Pentecost: Remember, Remember, Remember

Pentecost Sunday is the moment of the Church’s birth in a special way, the Spirit descends on Mary, some of the other women, and the Apostles who are gathered in prayer.  The Holy Spirit endows them with gifts to go forth and take up Jesus’ call to spread the Gospel to all nations.  And yet, in some ways the Church has always existed, since Adam and Eve, for if we believe that anyone who is saved is saved by God’s grace then they belong to the Church, which is the Kingdom of God.  Anyway, the more important point is that Pentecost is not a onetime isolated event that happened long ago in the past and is forever lost to us; rather it is an event that is always present, especially when we celebrate mass, and today specifically remembering it in our celebration of Pentecost.

As Catholics we receive much of the foundation of our faith from our Jewish brothers and sisters.  There can be no denying this; the two though different have foundational characteristics that are very similar, i.e. circumcision – baptism, Passover – Eucharist, Ten Commandments – Beatitudes, etc.  One theological aspect we have taken from the Jewish faith is anamnesis, meaning to remember.  Jewish people do this when they celebrate Passover; they “remember” their history of enslavement in Egypt, the plagues, especially when the angel passes them over, their exodus from Egypt, and up until they reach the Promised land.  In a spiritual or supernatural sense when they celebrate Passover, those events are not only remembered but present and very much alive in their own celebration.  As Catholics we believe this especially for our Eucharistic celebration, but we also remember the entire passion right up until the Spirit descends upon all of those gathered in the Upper Room.

Just as our Jewish brothers and sisters we not only remember but the events are present, we are now living the Pentecost experience.  Do we not believe that the Spirit descends upon us when we celebrate this feast as well as every mass?  You bet we do, the event is right here – right now. 

Two weeks from now we will be celebrating “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,” so please keep in mind that part of this reflection will repeat but with two other added concepts, one) epiclesis and two) why the Eucharist in the first place.  Stay tuned, same bat channel, same bat time.

Faith: Word and Action

The following statements or sayings are familiar to us, “put your money where your mouth is,” or “don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk.”  But phrases or sentiments refer to action backing up what we say.  If I tell you one thing but do another I make myself a hypocrite or if I am just all words with no action I am like a loud noise that is simple just annoying.

In our Catholic belief we understand that actions must accompany words otherwise that faith, which is all words is just a dead faith (c.f. James chapter 2).  In today’s Gospel from John, Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word.” I liken it to a spouse who tells his wife from the altar “I do” but then does very little or next to nothing to make that vow a reality.  That would not be love in any way shape or form; rather it would be an empty promise.

Other Christians have taken on the notion that faith and accepting the Lord Jesus is pivotal for one’s salvation and that once someone does that and if their conversion was real and true then naturally they will produce good works and try live by Jesus’ words, if the person is a complete opposite of what they proclaimed originally then they were never saved to begin with.  That is all nice neat, but what happens when it is someone who seems to have been good and holy and then falls from grace, i.e. Jimmy Swagart or Jim Baker (two former Evangelists), caught cheating on their wives?

I am not saying that they are not Christian, they may very well actually be and their fall from grace is no different than any other sinner, but it is perseverance through all my falls that proves my love for God and His love for me.  It is a relationship based on a journey of a lifetime, yes one that has high moments throughout, i.e. sacraments, reversion or conversion moments, etc. but it can never be just one moment or just one magical saying, it must be perseverance in God’s Word and commandments, especially the two greatest commandments.

Remember: Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever loves me will keep my Word . . . “

The Major Dogmas of the Blessed Mother

Come and join us on Monday May 6th (7pm) at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish (Assumption Church, 146 S. Pitney Rd., Galloway, NJ 08205) for a presentation on The Major Dogmas of our Blessed Mother.

The dogmas will be presented through their Scriptural foundation as well as their early development in the Father's of the Church.

Plenty of time for questions and fellowship with refreshments afterwards.

Presenter: Me

The Most Repeated Commandment: Love Your Neighbor

Last week I went to see the move, “42,” a true story about Jackie Robinson, the first black ball player to play in Major League Baseball.  When Robinson met with Branch Rickey in Brooklyn (spoiler alert) he asked Robinson if he could remain absolutely quiet in facing racial slurs and curses thrown at him.  Could he remain quiet when he would not be allowed in hotels, bathrooms, or restaurants with the rest of his teammates?  Could he remain a gentleman even when pitchers threw at him or runners try to take him out?  Robinson responded, “Are you saying to me not to have the guts to fight back?”  Rickey replied, “I am not asking you to have the guts to fight back, rather the guts not to fight back.”  Robinson stared at Rickey, there was a brief moment of silence and then Rickey said, “Like our Lord and Savior.”  And he continued by adding, “Do you know which commandment is most repeated in the Bible?”  The answer is “Love your neighbor.”

The ability to be quiet in the face of violence against me comes from a deep inner peace that I have with God.  Jesus displayed this inner peace even under the duress of torture and crucifixion.  He uttered not a word against those who beat him and executed him, rather, He forgave them.  He loved them.  Today’s Gospel tells us exactly how much we must love our neighbor.  We must love him like Jesus loves us.

There is only one answer to the world’s violence and injustice, and that is love.  Jackie Robinson took the high road when he began to play in the MLB and he was like a Christ figure, a man who remained quiet in the face of ridicule, racism, and even violence against him.  We live in a world where we are quick to retaliate and to serve up justice.  Has that method brought us peace or has it brought us more violence.

There is something undeniably moving when someone responds to violence with peace; it offers everyone involved a moment of pause, in which I am sure  happened when Jesus was on the Cross.  It makes people wonder, “Was this really the Son of God?”  In today’s world we need more of those moments of pause, moments that help us to look at our neighbor and realize they are children of God as well and I must love them even when they do me harm.

Jesus is very demanding when it comes to love, He demands that we love each other like He loved us.  This does not mean I will love my neighbor only when we get along with one another, when things are going well, or when it is suitable to me, but even when things are not going well, when we are not getting along, and love requires that I do not think of just, “me.”  Love in its very essence does not look within, but it looks without or outside of oneself, asking, “How can I make my neighbor happy?”

Everywhere Jesus, everyone He met, He always shared love with them, even if He had to be firm, He did so not of a sense of defending Himself, He did so because He wanted people to understand God, to understand Truth, and to know what love really meant. 

Our job as Christians is to take what we hear at mass and take it outside of these doors.  The mass is only effective when it is backed up by our living the Gospel and today Jesus challenges us to live the Gospel’s most repeated commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Peace, FJ

Picture is of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, probably when he signed his contract.

My Vocation Story: You Can Do it Better Than Me

This Sunday the Church calls “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.”  Each and everyone one of us should be praying for vocations, to religious life, the diaconate and the priesthood.  All of the readings today give us some sign or affirmation of the importance of vocations.  In our first reading from Acts we can see how important Paul and Barnabas’ message of the Gospel was, for many came to believe.  In the second reading the Apostle John reminds us of just how important the messenger is, not because of himself, but as God’s instrument he brings to the people Revelation.  And finally in the Gospel, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice . . .” we are all sheep but some among the sheep are chosen by God to help Him shepherd His people.  I happen to be one of those, called to be a priest of Christ, not by my own doing or choosing, but by Him who has called me.  I want to share with you how that call occurred in my life, when I finally understood it, and what I did about it.

I grew up in a very faith filled and practicing family.  We always went to mass on Sundays; I can still remember getting dressed and marching off to Church.  As a little boy I was in awe of Church, it all looked quite awesome to me.  We went to Most Precious Blood in Astoria Queens, and I remember distinctly all the beautiful statues, some even looked menacing, some looked tranquil, others just typical.  I loved all the different colors and paintings, the shape of things, what the priest wore and especially what he did.  Believe it or not I liked the signing though just as now I could not sing then either.

I remember playing priest when I was home; I am about 7 or 8 years old at the time.  My older brother was my congregation.  My mom gave me a slice of wonder bread and some apple juice for the bread and wine.  I had the missal in front of me and got along as best I could and my brother would even respond sometimes.  The innocence of early childhood, precious indeed. 

This innocence did not last for long.  By the time I was a teenager mass became work and it was boring.  I always loved to be playing ball in those days; especially basketball and Sunday mornings were for the park to play pickup games until mama let us know the sauce (gravy) was ready.  My mother being no fool would ask if I had been to Church.  I would say, “Yes,” and hand her a bulletin, you see, on my way to the park I would stop at the church run into the narthex grab the bulletin and go.  Can you believe it!  Anyway, my mom picked up on this and asked me on Sunday, “Oh by the way, what did Father preach about?”   With my mouth hanging I would just say, “huuuuuummmmhhhhh.”  Get to mass she would yell.  So being the little wise guy I knew that mass started at 10am, so if I got to the Narthex at 10:15 father would be preaching, I would listen for a moment or two, remember a couple of things, grab my bulletin and go.  But as smart as I thought I was my mother was smarter, she caught on to these shenanigans as well.

Nevertheless, God was calling me, He did so when I played mass as a little boy, and even though I avoided Him as a teenager right up until my early to mid twenties the Good Lord was always dropping signs I just didn’t pick them up right away.

I may have been around 16 years old when I was attending our Youth Group at Our Lady of Grace in Fairview, NJ.  I remember this because that night the priest, Father Peter, asked us to write a person (or persons) name\s on a card whom we thought could one day be a priest.  Well, when the card got to me I left it blank.  But my cousin Vinnie did not leave it blank, doesn’t that sound very New Yorkish, “My Cousin Vinnie.”  Who do you think Vinnie wrote down on that card?  You guessed it, “me.”  He told me afterwards and I remember being upset at him because now I would have to dodge the priest because he may ask me about the card, which eventually he did, but I got him off my back telling him my cousin was playing a joke on me, but he didn’t go for it fully, because he left me with, “think about it.”

I probably thought about it for a fleeting moment and then it was gone.  Jumping now into my early twenties, I was like anybody else, I dated, seriously even, almost getting married, but the Lord had different roads for us, both good as a matter of fact, and you don’t need to know the rest, but the weird thing was that I was not a practicing Catholic at this time.  Yes, I believed in God and you could not persuade me otherwise.  My girl friend at the time was a practicing Catholic and I tagged along to be a good sport.  Mass was still boring to me, I didn’t understand it, but what I did understand was public speaking, especially motivational type of speaking.  I was blessed with great coaches as a young man, all of whom were great motivators, John Schettino, John and Mike Mesisca, who coached during my CYO years, and Coach Talamini when I played in High School.  And I was already on the beginning of my coaching journey at the time as well.  So, when I went to mass I would always critique the priest’s homily (not the ones at Our Lady of Grace, my North Jersey friends know what I mean).  More so than not I would be frustrated because the priest did not speak well, he did not motivate me, he spoke of nothing real, either about himself or of anything relevant.  You’re not only selling me something, your offering me your very blood line, you gotta do better.  I would then reflect during the Eucharistic prayer, unknown to my then girlfriend, “I can be a better priest than him. I can speak better, I can move better, and I would bring out my belief and recruit you onto the team.”  That was all pride then, but even through my self-pride the Lord continued to drop hints and in the back of my mind I am picturing myself coaching division one college basketball, being married with 3 children, the dog running around the back yard.  I am sure God was smiling if not laughing at my well laid out plans.

It wasn’t until I met my good friend Tommy Deas at UPS who shared with me the Gospel, a fellow Catholic (another long story here, this one will have to wait) which then caused what some call a reversion (revert back to what you were) or conversion – a becoming of something you were not, i.e. Augustine was a pagan who became Catholic.  I began to pray more, I attended mass every Sunday, weekly confession, and even began to go on retreats.  I even started to think, is God calling me, does He want something more of me?  And the answer was yes!

I entered seminary on June 3^rd 1998.  I have never looked back.  I’ll share with you one final story.  The night before I was ordained I was at home with my parents.  I was sitting with my mom in the living room.  She said that she wanted to tell me something.  My mother was originally going to be a nun, but she left one year before her final vows because she felt a very strong call to marriage and family.  I already knew this, but then she told me something she never mentioned to me.  She said that when I was three years old we all went as a family to Croatia, my older brother Louis was about five at the time.  I remember the trip but only in images no conversations.  After we arrived in Croatia we all went to see the sisters and the mother superior snuck us around back so that the other sisters would not see my mother with a man and children, lest they get any funny ideas, it was the times you know.  Anyway, they brought us around back and we all had lunch together.  Right before we were to leave Mother Superior said to my mom, since you left one of your boys will be a priest.  My mom asked, “Which one?”  The good Mother picked me up.  My mom knew form that moment that I would be a priest and not once did she ever try to persuade me to do so.  

She also said to me, tomorrow is August 13^th that was the night – in the middle of the morning actually that I left the convent and tomorrow you will be ordained, which will be on August 13^th.  She tried to give me here profession cross as a gift, but I refused and told her that Cross is yours, and even though you did not take final vows a part of the community will always be with you and we will place that cross in your hands when you go to your rest.  She still misses community prayer even until today; she said that was the hardest thing to give up.  I know what she is talking about.  But more importantly for us here today is not simply my story but yours as well.  Is God calling you, have you been listening?  Are you a little naïve or even a little ignorant as I was?  Are you a little scared of what others might think even your own parents if you were to tell them about your vocation?  And parents do you promote vocations, prayer and faith with your children so that they can discern the voice in God in their conscience?

God called me is He calling you?  Just like I sat in that pew a long time ago thinking I can do it better than him, God just might be motivating you as well that you can do it even better than me!

FJ

Here Comes the King of Glory

The Pharisees said, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” Jesus responded, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”  Jesus usually takes the humble approach, but in this instance he allows the people to praise Him.  The Pharisees do not like this, for the people are praising Him like they did King David, and praising Him more so actually, praising Him as the Messiah.  And yet, this praise, of waving our palms and singing, “Hosanna to the Lord.  Praise be to the one who comes in the name of the Lord” must not just be an empty shouting, but must come from the depths of our hearts.  Jesus enters through the gates of the city, but more so does He wish to enter through the gates of our hearts; during Lent and especially now as we enter Holy week Jesus desires to fill our hearts, but we must first open them wide to receive Him.

As I reflected and prayed throughout Lent I felt that the Lord wants many things for us but three kept coming back to me and that was freedom, happiness, and friendship.

A good and loving King wishes his people to have freedom, that they will have the freedom to move about, the freedom to have a sense of ownership within the kingdom, the ability to express themselves and even offer fraternal correction to the king, and that they are never oppressed.  The Israelites were shouting and signing that day because they saw Jesus as a new King David, but He was more than that, yes He wants us to be free in the political sense of the term, but more importantly He wants us to be free from sin and evil.  St. Paul tells us we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness, but that freedom is complete, real, and holy only when we are slaves to Jesus, because in the surrendering to the Truth, to the Good, to our Lord is when we experience true freedom.

All of us wish to be happy and we wish it all the time, happiness not in the sense that I am always smiling, that would be forced and not real, but that our overall disposition is one of happiness.  When people describe us we desire that they would call us a “happy person.”  Happiness comes from inside, a feel of contentment.  What takes happiness away or diminishes it is sin.  Ironic how sin looks like happiness, disguises itself as such, but then comes the emptiness, the guilt, that “something is missing feeling.”  When we live virtuously instead of the guilty or empty feelings I just described, they are replaced with joy, sense of accomplishment, sense of belonging and purpose, a sense of relationship, all of which makes one happy.

And finally, friendship.  In the Gospel of John chapter 15 Jesus calls his Apostles his friends, they are no longer just simply his servants.  Friendship is based on trust, faith, and truly knowing the other.  If you are married obviously (and hopefully) your spouse is your greatest friend, but all of us need that friend outside of our immediate circle of family.  A person that knows us like the back of their hand who anticipates our feelings, someone who will listen, someone who will be there in dark hours but also in bright ones.  King David had Jonathan, Abraham had his nephew Lot, Moses had Aaron, Paul had Barnabas, and we have Jesus, who today wishes to enter into the city of hearts, into the very depths of our souls. 

Why are we holding out our palm branches, why are we signing, and carrying on like the Israelites of old?  Because Jesus is coming, our King and our God, pray that we all receive Him, Amen.

FJ

The Keys of the Church: In the Hands of Peter Until Christ's Return

Some time ago I was introduced to a work called “The Book of Truth” which is written by an anonymous visionary-seer self dubbed “Maria divine mercy.”  I was skeptical from the get go as I quickly learned that the book was steeped in millennialism which means, a one thousand year period in which Christ will reign after the Resurrection,” and along with that belief is a literal seven year tribulation, which also involves a pre-rapture, mid rapture or post rapture event (where Christ will come first and remove believers from the tribulation or after it).  The book also believes that the false prophet who teams up with the anti-Christ will be the next elected pope and that they keys of the kingdom have been removed from the Church by Christ.

The book is egregiously erroneous on just about everything it claims.  But, I will say this, the author\s are quite clever and use a common brainwashing technique that we see with many cults, e.g. Jesus is the one speaking with the seer and Jesus warns the seer that people will oppose her and that is a sure sign of its authenticity, very convenient indeed.  When discussing the work with someone who has already bought into is very difficult because as soon you voice opposition, what happens?  They see you as such; you are the opposition to Christ.

The book also claims that it is private revelation but it also claims the same for Sacred Scripture, that it too is only private revelation and that both are equal, and we know that cannot be.  One of the foremost teachings of our Catholic faith is that the Sacred Scriptures are the deposit of Faith and that they are Public Revelation, commissioned by Jesus via the authors of the letters and books of the New Testament.  The Church also believes that all Public Revelation ceased upon the death of John the Apostle, circa 95 A.D.

The Church does believe that private revelation occurs, i.e. Sr. Fuastina, but all private revelation must be scrutinized by the Church in order to make sure that Jesus does not contradict Himself or any part of Scripture is contradicted.  Upon careful study if private revelation compliments Public Revelation it will be approved by the Church, but again, it is not binding on the faithful, it never was or will be.  I myself favor private revelation if it is approved as it is a help to the faithful, but when private revelation tries to become more than what it is – is a sure sign of it being invalid. 

Maria divine mercy makes many claims that Christ told her personally, for instance Maria divine mercy claims that the keys of the kingdom have already been taken back by Jesus.  That is contrary to Scripture as we know that the Master of the House does not reclaim the keys until His return, c.f. Isaiah 22:20-22, Mt. 16:16-19.  Also, if the keys have already been returned or taken back by Jesus that means everything we now do is in vain as the Church would no longer have the authority to administer the sacraments, c.f. Jn. 20-22-23, but we know that is not the case because once Jesus returns it will be then that he takes back the keys and the sacraments will end since there will be no further need for them we will be partaking of the heavenly banquet in the presence of our Lord.

Maria also claims that her work is the completion of the Book of Revelation and that Jesus is telling her that the next pope will be the false prophet, that her work is equal Scripture, etc.  But listen to the words of Revelation, “I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book. (Rev. 22:18-19)

She also claims that the false prophet will be the next pope and that he will be the cause of the abomination.  That is CLEARLY FALSE and CONTRARY to SCRIPTURE.  Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 refer to idolatrous worship, i.e. a statue or even the anti-christ himself, there is no mention of the false prophet.  Also, the abomination takes place in this holy place, ie. “This holy place” refers to The Temple in Jerusalem not the Vatican as maria divine mercy claims, you can see her poor understanding of Scripture.  Also, St. Paul tells us, “We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.  Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god— (2 Thess 2:1-4)

It is not the false prophet who does this, but the anti-christ himself.  The great thing about our Scriptures is that we can go back to them to the test the spirits to see if they are true, we also have the Sacred Tradition of the Church to fall back on when determining the Truth of the Gospel and in all instances maria divine mercy does not hold up, it is a different gospel, if not evil in its intentions.

If maria divine mercy is for real why doesn’t she show herself, but rather hides behind this pseudonym?  All prophets came forward with their message, they didn’t hide, even if meant their death, but yet, maria hides and we don’t know if she is a man, a woman, multiple persons, etc.?

To find a more detailed response to her book please see the following link: http://warningsecondcoming.blogspot.com/