Faith Series Talk 1: The Bible and its Development

This was originally in outline form, adjusted here to read more like an essay, please forgive the grammar.  Picture is that of St. Jerome translating the Old and New Testaments into Latin.  St. Jerome was born in what was called Stridon, Dalmatia, now better known as Split, Croatia.  

Introduction:  As you know Pope Benedict has declared this year as “A Year of Faith” and has encouraged the entire Church, especially at the local level, the Parish to offer reflection, prayer, fellowship, study, liturgy, etc. for the benefit of the faithful.  We have been asked to reflect especially on Vatican Council II, the Catechism, and our beliefs as Catholics.

My approach will apologetical, based on Sacred Scripture and the Church fathers.  My themes will be taken from Gus Llyods’ “A Minute in the Church” which we have more of in the Narthex.

What are apologetics?  You may have heard this term before.  Apologetics as defined by Gus Lloyd is, “the branch of theology concerned with the defense and rational justification of Christianity (in our case, Catholicism).” P.7

When I thought about where I would start, I thought why not from the beginning, from Scripture.

So, tonight I want to take a look at what the Bible is, how it formed, and its use in the Church.

What is the Bible?

Simply put the bible or Sacred Scripture is the inerrant and inspired Word of God.

Now that is a mouthful, what does inerrant mean?  Inerrant means, “Without error.” Inspired means that God either through direct revelation, visions, dreams, prayer, to the authors of Scripture helped them to write exactly what He wanted.  This does not mean, however, that the author’s personality, writing style, quirks, foibles, and everything about them is not present within the writing, it is.  It means that in some Divine way, without hindering the author, God got His Word across.

Sacred Scripture is NOT a police report, nor is it written in modern style.  It does not follow a nice historical timeline or record events the way we expect.  The authors were men of their time, influenced and educated differently, teaching styles tended to be much more repetitive, there was no mandatory rule to give credit to previous authors or resources you may have used, no such thing as plagiarism in those days.  They tended to write more fluidly when it came to history or recording events, especially when dealing with the Divine.  For example, if I asked you to write a biography on Abraham Lincoln you would follow certain rules and go about it in a very uniformed way.  You would first sit and think about a thesis statement, then from there you would acquire resource materials to help prove your thesis.  You most likely would follow a very chronological time line, trying to be as historically accurate as possible.  That is the way we write about history today, but not the way they did 2,000 or 3,000 years ago.

The Bible is also made up of two parts, which we call “The Old Testament” and “The New Testament.”

The Old Testament tells the story of Creation, the Law, the Prophets, and God’s unfolding plan of salvation.

The New Testament tells the story of the plan of salvation coming to fruition, the prophecies now fulfilled in God made man, Jesus Christ.

The entire Bible is God speaking to us, historically, theologically, and even personally, revealing to us God and His promises.

Knowing what the Bible is – is very important but so too is its development.  As Gus Lloyd says, “You see, the Bible didn’t just fall out of the sky, or off of a local printing press,” no indeed, it actually took quite some time for all the letters and books of the Old and New Testament to take shape and then to be considered Sacred Scripture.

The Old Testament developed under many sources, some of which are referred to as the priestly class, the Elhoist class, the Deuteronomist and the Yahwist class.  They had a great influence, especially on the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, also referred to as the Law.  The Old Testament is also made up of single authors, multiple authors, students or disciples of prophets and oral Tradition finding its way onto written parchment.  Eventually the Old Testament would be Hellenized; fancy way of saying that those Jews who lived in Greek areas had a Greek version and those Jews from Israel had a more Hebrew version.  Aside from all of that it took a couple of thousand years for the books to find themselves in one volume.  It took the decision of the People of Israel, mainly its scholars and priestly class through the power of the Holy Spirit to give us what we have today in what we call the Jewish Scripture or Old Testament.  You can clearly see that something of this nature took time and did not fall out of the sky.

The New Testament also took some time to all come together into the neat package we have today that consists of Four Gospels, Two books: Acts and Revelation, and 21 letters, 13 from St. Paul, 3 from St. John,  2 from St. Peter, 1 from James, and 1 from St. Jude, and one unknown author to the Hebrews.  The first letter written was from St. Paul about 20 years after Jesus’ resurrection and the last book written was Revelation about 95 AD.  So we have about a 50 year period in which these works were written.  Then it took another 300 years or so for the Church to decide, dogmatically which books and letters made up the New Testament – the Canon of Scripture.

How did they go about doing this, what was the criteria they used to decide what was inspired by God and what was not?

They used two major criteria to determine what would make up the New Testament Canon.

What were the people using at Liturgy?

Which letters, books, and Gospels held commonality and continuity?

Also looked at the books, letters, and Gospels themselves to see if they claimed to be Scripture, which was rare – only happens in three places.

"And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, speaking of these things as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures." 2 Pt. 3:15-16.

"Give greetings to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and to the church in her house. And when this letter is read before you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and you yourselves read the one from Laodicea. And tell Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you received in the Lord.” The greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. Remember my chains. Grace be with you." Col 4:15-18

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 1 Tim. 3:16-17

Even with all these three passages we are not given a comprehensive and definite statement of which books and letters are truly inspired and which are not, for e.g. the Gospel of Matthew does not say “This is Scripture”  No book or letter explicitly says that.

The Church for three hundred years or so went by popular opinion or the voice of the people “vox popoli” or better to say “sensus fidelium” – sense of the faithful.  It was not until approx 375 AD that Pope Damasus the 1st asked St. Jerome to translate the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Scriptures into Latin, from which came the Latin Vulgate.  When Jerome completed his work Pope Damasus also asked St. Augustine and others to determine what the churches were using in their worship, their liturgy and also to look at what provided continuity.

Hence Pope Damasus declared in 382 by virtue of his office what books and letters comprised the OT and NT, his decisions were also ratified in subsequent Church councils of Hippo and Carthage in 393 and 397, both of which were presided by St. Augustine and again confirmed by Rome.  From that period up until the Reformation, 1,200 years, there was no real major concern with the Canon.

Finally the usages of the Bible in the Church.

Even though we have a Magisterium, a governing body with authority the Scriptures remain the norm for the Church, we are shaped by them, influenced by them, and know that it is the Word of God.

We use it throughout mass, the readings, prayers, hymns, etc.

We need to use it more for prayer, study, and reflection.

Public vs. Private Revelation: Public Revelation is all of Sacred Scripture and all Sacred Tradition.  There is no longer any public revelation.  Once the last Apostle died, John, all public revelation stopped.  Any revealing of dogmatic Truth that is defined by the Church as public belief finds its roots in Scripture or Oral Tradition from that time before the last apostle’s death.

Private Revelation is that revelation given by the Holy Spirit to any believer outside of Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition, i.e. Fatima.  There are two kinds of private revelations, those affirmed by the Church as authentic and those that are not (either because they are still being investigated or they have been deemed heretical or false)  For e.g. Medjugorge, has not been affirmed.  In either case, whether affirmed by the Church or not each individual believer is given the option to either accept or not to accept any private revelation.  The Church encourages those private revelations, i.e. Sr. Faustina for our benefit, but we are not bound to them in regards to our salvation or sanctification.

There are false teachings out there as well, those that oppose Sacred Scripture and the Church, be careful in your readings and devotions, for e.g. one such false prophet or teaching comes from Maria Divine Mercy.  Please check the following to link to see her numerous errors: http://warningsecondcoming.blogspot.com/

The Magi: Bearing our Gifts

As St. Paul so beautifully says in his letter to the Ephesians, “. . . we are coheirs and co-partners in the promise of Christ Jesus.”  That promise is none other than our eternal salvation.  This promise of eternal life is seen when the three wise men (the magi) come to Jesus and “offer Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” 

Jesus is first praised by the people who are the apple of His eye – the people of Israel as it was the shepherds, farm hands, and stable boys who first give him honor after they hear the message of the angel.  Afterwards, and we don’t know exactly how far afterwards, come the three kings from the East (representing the Gentiles) offering gifts to the Christ child.  So it is the entire world who gives honor and praise to Jesus, and the promise of being coheirs and co-partners with Christ can be found in the meaning of the magi and especially in the gifts that they give.

The magi themselves are believed to be from a priestly class of a Gentile religion called Zoroastrianism, they were a group of priests who were basically astronomers and philosophers from the East and possibly Far East.  They were probably also of royalty, kings themselves or at least from families of prominence.  More importantly for our purposes is that these kings-magi were not Jewish and that they were also included in the promise of Christ.

Can you imagine just for a moment what would have been going through the minds of Joseph and Mary when these three Easterners – kings bowing down before their baby boy?  It must have been something special, and the gifts would have been very special; something Joseph and Mary would not have been lost on.

The gift of gold is given to a King, representing His Kingship.  The gift of frankincense is given to a God or priest for sacrificial offerings.  Finally the gift of myrrh is given for burial.  These gifts would have brought great joy to Mary and Joseph as well as wonder and even some concern especially the gift of myrrh which again is for burial.

Two amazing things are happening here, one is in the gifts presented to Christ, but also that Christ would give us a share in these gifts – the promise of being coheirs and co-partners with Him in everything.

This is why the Church takes so seriously the sacrament of baptism, in which we also become priests, prophets, and kings.  I know I have spoken to you about this before but it is imperative to understand it.  The gifts given to Jesus are also given to all of us to share in.  All of us are part of the Epiphany. 

All of us are priests (the royal priesthood) because just as Jesus we must offer sacrifice every day, the sacrifice of our very selves.  We must become one with Jesus in every way, offering and joining ourselves to the Cross, because it is there in which the ultimate act of love is both seen and lived.  People seek the Gospel, they are always looking for Truth, for salvation, when they see us they must see Jesus’ partners, they must see Jesus Himself otherwise the words we preach have no meaning.

We also are given gold, for we too are royalty; think how precious we are to God.  We are so precious to Him that He would take up the cross of the world and carry it for us and even be crucified on it, all for us.

And finally, the gift of myrrh.  It symbolizes burial, death in fact.  Something that is hard for all of us.  All of us must face death.  We do everything in the world to cover it up.  When we go to a funeral viewing we make the person look alive.  We don’t like to face it, but death comes for us all.  Death serves two purposes, one it gives us relief from this life.  Everybody wants to live here and to live here forever.  St. Augustine tells us that death is a way out for us from this life of toil.  Everything we do it is never fully perfect, there is always something lacking, and we must work the daily grind of life with all the sufferings that come with it.  Sure, we are happy as well, and there are great moments of joy in this life, but we never truly reach perfect happiness, its part of our original sin.  And after a while it takes its toll on us, but God being good gives us a way out, through death.  More importantly is that we share Christ’s death with our own, that everything we do is always connected to His Cross but also His resurrection.

The Epiphany was meant to be an eye opener, not just for Mary and Joseph, but for the whole world.  It’s not just a nice cute scene with Three Kings bringing Christmas presents, no indeed; in its essence it is about intimacy with Christ, an intimacy in which we share His Kingship, His Priesthood, and even His death.  We belong to Jesus, we are His coheirs, and we are His co-partners.  Amen.

Reflecting in our Hearts: Mary and the New Year

The Church celebrates two things today, the more important is the Solemnity of Mary as Mother of God, the second, and less important, is the secular New Year.

Two weeks ago I preached about Mary as Theotokos, the God-bearer.  We looked at why she is rightly called the Mother of God as there is a strong Scriptural basis for it as well as very strong historical development of this dogmatic Truth as defined at the Council of Ephesus.  But, more importantly as I mentioned two weeks ago, as good as it is to understand and know the theology of Mary as Mother of God, the more valuable is to live like her.

At our fourth Sunday of Advent we could see Mary’s desire to share the Good News with her cousin Elizabeth.  This week I want to share about her, “Keeping all these things and reflecting on them in her heart.”  We find this passage “of Mary pondering these things in her heart” in a number of places.  In Mary’s meeting with Simeon when he prophesies about Jesus being the cause for the rise and fall of many in Israel and a light to the Gentiles he also warns Mary that a sword would pierce her own her heart.  She then reflects on what Simeon said and kept it in her heart.  She also ponders in her heart when they lost Jesus in Jerusalem and then found Him in the Temple and again today when the shepherds give praise, “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

How often do we like our Mother, the Mother of God, reflect and keep in our hearts the things of God?  How much time do we give to prayer?  Since this is a New Year may be it is time to become more like our Mother Mary and pray not just more, but deeper and more reflectively.

As Catholics we love our rosaries, and rightly so, we love our Novenas, we have many and all good, we have intercessory prayer, always great to pray for someone else, we have set prayers, like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, etc., prayers that are Scriptural and filled with Tradition.  All of these prayers have their rightful place and should be practiced.  But we also have in the Church meditative prayer, reflective prayer, and contemplative prayer, all related with their center being on quiet discernment on Jesus or some other Christian mystery, i.e. God, the Holy Spirit, some Scripture verse, etc.

The quiet is uncomfortable, we are not used to praying that way and through history we have come to associate that type of prayer with monks and nuns.  We all need to reclaim that type of prayer in which like Mary we ponder these things in our hearts.

Conversation and friendship is a two way street, I talk, you talk, we both talk to one another.  When I do all the talking my friend will get bored, frustrated, and eventually want out of the conversation, because he can’t get a word in edgewise.  How can we hear Jesus when all we do is talk-talk or if we never quiet ourselves?

If we want to know God one way is to study theology, but through theology we will only know “about God,” we still won’t really know Him until we enter into conversation with Him.  Mary was chosen by God because she knew Him best, no one I believe reflected on God more and with tremendous quiet than the Blessed Mother.  And just maybe for this New Year she is asking us to do the same.  Be still in the presence of the Lord; find Him in the quiet, in the solace, in your hearts, where like Mary we will always keep Him.  AMEN.

Feast of the Holy Family: Family and Forgiveness

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  I can only wonder at what it was like, their prayer life, their daily work, and the love that they shared.  It must have been pretty amazing, but I would also assume in many ways it was quite regular as well.  I am sure there was something magical about it, but just like everyone else they had to work, do their chores, and simply just work at being a family.  I am sure there were moments of worry, concern, and even frustration.

Today’s Gospel is a prime example of parents worrying for their child.  Jesus decides to stay back while the family leaves.  I am sure not a too unfamiliar story for most parents, a child getting lost.  When Mary and Joseph finally realize that Jesus is missing I can only imagine their concern and their being worried sick.  Jerusalem was a metropolis in those days compared to what Nazareth was like.  For three days Jesus is lost until they finally find Him preaching and teaching in the temple.

It was then that Mary and Joseph reveal their worry and concern, “How could you do this to us, we were worried sick,” and Jesus responds, “I must be about my Father’s business.”  I am sure that must have made them both pause, but I am also sure they felt great relief that he was safe.

We all know that the Holy family was holy, we have depictions, art work, icons, statues, and every other form of art telling us this, and they truly were holy for Jesus was full of grace and Truth, Mary was Immaculate and Joseph a good and righteous man.  Nevertheless they were not without suffering, worry or concern as all of us are from time to time.

What does this model of the Holy Family mean for our families?  Obviously we are to imitate the Holy Family as much as we possibly can.  However, our families also have concerns, worries, and even suffering.  We can go even further; our families have problems, be they small or great.  Many times we will hide our problems from others, we keep our dirty laundry to ourselves, because God forbid someone finds out my teenage daughter is pregnant, or my son is divorced and has remarried outside of the Church with no annulment and continues to receive the sacraments, or my father is an alcoholic, or my sister addicted to drugs.  No family is exempt from problems, some may not be so severe, but problems nevertheless.

What is the answer to these problems?  The answer is perseverance and prayer.  St. Paul calls us fighters fighting the good fight, he knew life was not easy, sometimes far from it, and fighters get knocked down but a good fighter will try to get up each and every time.  Families will try to stay together, for the most part, even with severe problems, they try to stick it out, but sometimes a family falls apart because it is dealing with a hurt that they think cannot be healed, and it usually centers on forgiveness.

St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians writes, “. . . bear(ing) with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”

How many times do we hear of family squabbles that get out of control and before you know it brother stops talking to brother, daughter stops talking to mother, father abandons family, and all the rest?  Most of the times not being able to forgive deals with betrayal.  Someone has betrayed me, broke trust, or given up on me and the hurt that – that brings is sometimes too much and causes a break between blood, marriage or friendships.  We just find it impossible to forgive.

The question that remains is why do we find it impossible to forgive?  If we call ourselves Christians and good Christians at that then we must forgive as St. Paul writes and as Jesus Himself taught us, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Still we find it hard and the excuses and logic we use are, he or she cheated on me, they lied about the money, someone broke my trust, someone lied (slander) about me and caused me great harm, someone in the family maneuvered themselves into a greater portion of the will of the parents, etc., etc.

We trick ourselves by thinking if we hold back forgiveness we somehow have power over the other, that we are causing them some pain, which we justify as justice in our own perverse way.  The reality is that we have no power over the other, nor are we causing them any pain, actually the reverse is happening, we are the ones in pain and justice is being done to us because we can’t let go.

Not being able to forgive is a sickness that festers right in the heart of the person and weakens the soul.  Forgiveness is everything.  If we can’t forgive we will walk in shackles and chains with heavy stones on our shoulders carrying evil around day and night.  I hate to be melodramatic, but it is true, withholding forgiveness does damage to us and keeps our family not holy but unholy.

If you have anger, hate, vengeance, or a strong desire not to forgive I ask you to remember Christ who forgave you for everything, even when you mocked him, spit on him, beat him, whipped him, put nails through his hands and feet, and he still looked down on you with forgiveness.  We all betrayed him, hurt him, and still he calls us friends.  What has your brother or sister done to you that could have been worse than what you did (we did) to Christ? Anger, hate, and vengeance will keep us prisoners in this life and the next, forgiveness will set us free now and also forever.  Amen.

Christmas: A Sharing of Quiet, Prayer, and the Contents of a Brown Paper Bag

           

           Christmas, what do I remember and hold cherish about this great holiday when Christ our Lord was born for us?  Last year right after Thanksgiving my dad passed away and last year’s Christmas seemed empty and my concern was for my mother.  This year seems a little easier, as time and our Good Lord begins to heal all loss and hurt.  But, what I recall and cherish the most is the greatest lesson I could have learned about Christmas and it was from my father.

          When I was a little boy my dad would leave me a special gift on my night stand so that when I woke up it would be the first gift I would see and the first gift I would open.  My father was born on a small island off the coast of Croatia; a little place called Susak or as it is called in Italian, Sansego.  My dad grew up poor, his dad was a farmer and wine maker so when Christmas came along my grandfather would fill paper bags with fruits, all kinds of nuts, and small chocolates for his children and leave those by their bed so when they woke Christmas morning they would have gifts.

          My dad did the same for me and my brothers.  And I could not wait to get into that bag when I woke up.  My dad already awake would be waiting for me in the kitchen.  I would rush in there and we would exchange a Christmas greeting and kiss and then I would sit at the table and share with him whatever was in the bag.  My dad use to be able to open the walnuts with his bare hands, crush them with his palm like they were paper and that would always make me wonder and look at him as being strong and manly.  We would not talk much just simply enjoy the quiet, the good fresh fruits, nuts, and chocolates.  Once we were done my dad would start to pray from his little prayer book and he would say the prayers out loud, he always prayed that way, and I loved to listen to him pray.  He would start off praying in Croatian, then a little Italian, and he would also sing Christmas carols.

          I loved those moments and cherished them as the greatest Christmas gift that I could have received from my dad.  Don’t get me wrong I loved to open my toys and games, but none of them every truly felt as good as when I sat with my dad eating the fruits, nuts, and chocolates out of a paper bag and then praying.

          I ask you, what is your Christmas like, what are your stories?  I imagine it is not as much to do with the presents as it is with spending time with your family and friends.  This is what Christ gives us this Christmas, two things, He gives Himself to us and then He gives us each other.  Remember Jesus when you go home, when you look at your spouse, your children, and children remember your parents, your siblings, and everyone in your family, they are the precious gift that God has given you, greater than anything you can wrap in a box or put in a card.  I will give you a little homework even though school is out.  When you return home either tonight or tomorrow, when you open your gifts, whatever is your custom take two to three minutes of quiet and prayer and reflect on Christ in the manger, with Mary and Joseph – the Holy Family.  Thank Jesus for His gift of grace to you and thank Him for your family, before you open any gift, because without Christ first, the other gifts have no meaning.

          Remember that this day unto you a Savior is born, Christ the Lord, our brother, our friend, our Lord and God right in our very homes, right in our very hearts, God bless you and Merry Christmas.  FJ

4th Sunday of Advent: Sharing the Good News

Whenever the 4^th Sunday comes this close to Christmas it is always difficult to give a homily without mentioning Christmas, hence blending this 4^th Sunday of Advent with Christmas, which I shouldn’t do since I will be repeating myself tomorrow and the day after boring you even further.  So, much to your delight I will keep this week’s homily brief.  As I was once told, “Be brief, be quick, and be gone.”

There are two themes from today’s Gospel that really stand out, that is “The Good News” and “traveling in haste to share it.”  Once Mary learns that she will be the Mother of the Savior, the Mother of God in fact, she quickly feels that she must share this Good News with someone.  She must have also been scared, since she would have to eventually explain to Joseph and to her parents the conditions of her pregnancy.

Nevertheless she also felt great joy, that God had blessed her beyond measure.  Off she goes to her cousin Elizabeth, to share with her the Good News but to also hear Elizabeth’s Good News, for Elizabeth is also pregnant with John the Baptist, the last of the Prophets.

The questions that remain for us are: Do I believe I have been given Good News and if so what do I do with it?  We have most definitely been the recipients of Good News, and that Good News is that we are loved beyond measure by an infinite loving God. 

Sometimes the Holy-days are tough and hard on people because they may be suffering loss or just simply suffering and the Good News seems far away, but it is not, Jesus is always in our midst.  Since we have been given this Good News, this message of salvation, like Mary and Elizabeth we must share it with others.

  

A Christian can never do anything else by his or her very nature; the Good News of God wants to pour out of us, for God’s Glory but also for us to share joy with others.  The Prophet Jeremiah understood this when he said, “. . . It (The Good News) is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding back, I cannot!” Jer. 20:9, (NABRE) If the Christmas spirit is really in us then God’s Word will also be burning our hearts and we can do nothing less than to share that which is in the very core of our being, Christ the Lord Himself.  Amen

FJ

We are the Glory of God

             

          

             The first reading today from the Prophet Baruch clearly tells us that we are God’s crowning achievement.  “Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever: wrapped in the cloak of justice from God, bear on your head the mitre that displays the glory of the eternal name.  For God will show all the earth your splendor:  you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God's worship.” (Bar 1:5…)

            Many times in our faith we are challenged to do the good and to avoid evil, and homilies will take on that challenge, but every so often we need to be reminded of our goodness.  Any good coach, teacher, or mentor will challenge those he or she has been given charge of, they will also set the bar high – if they desire to achieve excellence, but every so often they will affirm their students, their players, and their protégés.  This is done so that those committed to the class, the team, the club, the cause, will not lose heart, that they will be made to feel a sense of worth and a sense of goodness.  This is no different than with God.  He challenges us for the most part but also reaffirms us and that is what is being done today in our readings.

            God did take on human flesh in Jesus Christ to come and save us, yes we are wounded and only Jesus can heal that wound, but we are also good, not just good, “but very good” c.f. Gen. 1:31, we are also fearfully and wonderfully made, (c.f. Ps. 139:14) and we are also as St. Irenaeus so beautifully puts, “Man fully alive is the glory of God.”

            What is good about us one may ask, since it seems that wars never end, sin goes from bad to worse, and every day the attendance at Church diminishes?  There is a lot of good; for starters, it is good that you are here.  But I also see goodness all around me.  Many of you give so much of yourselves, to your families, to your friends, your community – especially the family you have here at our Parish.  So many of you give of not just your money but your time as well and that has been humbling to me and also has served as a motivation for me to give back more, so I thank you.

            We also see a lot of good in this world.  Think of all the people who work and operate St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Catholic Charities, Red Cross, Peace Corps, Volunteer Fire Fighters, Soup Kitchen Volunteers, CCD teachers, volunteer coaches, mentors, First Aid Respond Volunteers, UNICEF, and the list can go on and on.  So many give of themselves in concern for others and even people they do not know.  Think of the countless parents who take care of a gravely ill child, sometimes for years or decades – giving up everything for just moments of relief for their child!  We see the best of humanity in these trials.  Think of hurricane Sandy how many folks came together to help those in need, people from California spearheading projects that would send resources across the coast to aid us here.

            There is a goodness to humanity and it is clearly from the Divine spark that is found in the very core of our being, “made in the image and likeness of God.”  God says he will show the earth our glory and splendor, for we are truly good, of great value, and endless, fearless, and persevering in our love for each other.  Our worth is beyond measure, it is of such great value that God Himself became a man and showed us love personified and perfected in the greatest sacrifice of all, His Passion.  AMEN

FJ