The past week and a half, storms have entered my life from every direction.  Both real,  physical, actual storms and metaphorical, symbolic “storms.”  All presented problems, issues, and facts I would have loved to have taken cover from, pretended didn’t exist or all together run, run, run from.  I  had to be reminded, by God’s Word, and remind myself, DAILY, sometimes HOURLY, to GIVE THE STORMS to Christ.  Had I attempted, rather, WHEN I attempted, to handle these various entangled issues under my own power, of my own accord, I failed.  My thoughts failed me, my words failed me, and ANY faith IN MYSELF returned VOID.

In the Epistle for this Sunday, Ephesians 3:14-21, St. Paul tells us that we get our inner strength through the power of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Christ our Lord in our hearts by faith.  When we are faced with the various trials, temptations, and terrors in our daily walks, we MUST focus on this.  We are NOT working under our own power, we are NOT successes through our own strength.  We are righteously victorious through Christ ALONE.  We also read in the Epistle that Christ, working
within us, will accomplish far more than we can begin to fathom.  I know  I am awfully good at thinking of the “WORST CASE SCENARIO”.  I come face to face with a problem and I can instantly think what the enemy has  worked so hard to get me to think… the worst results that can come of  any situation.  We must remember, just as the Lord God has a plan for our lives, so does Satan. And the enemy works second by second to get us  to fall in line with his plan.  And, far too often, we are quick to
believe those lies we are fed by Satan.

The Psalm this week gives us a true and better rule to remember, Psalm 145, verse 18, says “the LORD is  righteous in all his ways and loving in all his works.”  Don’t be fooled, we cannot get through a single day ALONE, on our own.  We are going to have help from the Lord, or ‘help’ from the enemy…  Which voice are we going to listen to?  The voice of triumph, victory, love and comfort?  Or, the voice of lies, damnation, and defeat?

In the Gospel appointed for today (John 6:1-21), we read of our Lord feeding the multitudes off of five loaves and 2 fish.  I often like to think, had I been there, I would have been the exemplary disciple… that I would have believed every word, every command, every request of Jesus without the first bit of proof offered.  Sometimes in reading the Gospels, I can almost sense the Lord thinking “WHY CAN’T THEY JUST LISTEN AND BELIEVE?!!?”  In today’s Gospel, the disciples begin their litany of excuses as to why they couldn’t possibly feed all of these people:  We couldn’t afford it,  where would we even get the food for this many…  Finally our Lord simply asks the disciples to get the folks to sit down.  No more, no less… just get them to sit down, and Jesus took care of the rest.  THIS IS A BIG LESSON that I NEEDED to hear  this week.  SIT DOWN and TRUST GOD.  Then, in the latter part of this Gospel lesson, we read about the Lord calming the storm when the disciples were on the boat in the water heading to Capernaum.  The wind picks up, the sea becomes rough and begins tossing them to and fro’.  Then they look out and there is Jesus walking on the water… it doesn’t  say he’s RUNNING on the water, or hurrying toward them on the water… just walking on the waters… these rough waters beating them about in the boat.  They, of course, were petrified… like I had been much of
this week over my various storms.  Then the Lord tells them “It is I, BE  NOT AFRAID.”  (Emphasis is always mine)  Then they took HIM in the boat  and immediately reached their destination.  WHAT A JEWEL this is in this LESSON OF LESSONS!  During every hardship I’ve faced and and have seen loved ones face this week, every time we relied on our own  power the “storms” simply raged harder…  EVERY TIME we gave those ‘storms’ to God, placed them in His hands and OUR TRUST TOTALLY IN HIM, we saw AWESOME and POWERFUL results, not in our timing or even in ways we anticipated or had hoped for… but the Lord manifested and showed his UNFAILING love for us in each and every situation, once and when we placed our trust and confidence in Him, not ourselves.

We cannot walk alone… we’re going to have company, so we have to choose THIS DAY, and  every day following with WHOM  WE SHALL  WALK!  And when we CHOOSE to walk with the Lord, allowing Him to guide us through every trial, every storm, every foe that comes against us, not wavering in our trust in Him and our love for Him, HE WILL SEE US THROUGH.  As Psalm 145:19 says “The Lord is near to those who call upon him, to all who call upon him FAITHFULLY.”

Go ahead, GIVE YOUR STORMS TO GOD.  HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.  AMEN?!   Amen!

In todays Gospel we read…He summoned the Twelve 1and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick–no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. Our Lord sent them out bare but they would go out and do the Greatest Work….. cause then we read .. So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. They set out on this mission without anything not even food or money to buy it with…

In the first reading it focus our attention on prophets and prophecy. The prophet Amos makes it clear that he did not want the job! But, God called him anyway to be a prophet and to proclaim God’s word to the King of Bethel. “A reluctant prophet met a reluctant audience, and Amaziah ordered him to leave Bethel.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel”. The message of the prophet Amos was a cry for justice, for an end of oppression of the poor by the wealthy. We today we are sent out to dothe same…. Gods Mission, to go out and Preach Repentance and to Prophesy of His Glory, His Justice, His Love, His Peace and his Equality for ALL. For to Prophesy is to make inspired declarations of what is to come and or to speak as a mediator between God and humankind or in God’s stead. That is the the work that we my Brothers and Sisters are called to do especially as members in the Order of Preachers!

In the second reading today it also states of this mission …”He has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory”. We must fight the spirit of injustice where ever it. Remember The spiritual tradition of Dominic’s Order is punctuated not only by charity, study and preaching, but also by instances of mystical union! !

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus being astounded at the unbelief of the people.  Some folks were  asking how He knew all this stuff. Others, who apparently knew him, were saying, “Oh, come on, this is Jesus. He’s a nobody just like us. What makes Him so special?” Familiarity breeds contempt. I know that often I go into places where I am familiar and I don’t get taken seriously as a priest, a theologian, or any other sort of Christian minister. “There goes Seraphim, playing priest-man again!” As most of you know, I am an ex-Mormon. When I was in Utah in the early 1990’s, I was not only not taken seriously, but I was actively shunned by many folks because I was an apostate. I lost jobs because of it. Of course, as many can testify, the local Sanhedrin control all aspects of life there. It was no different in the Judaea of Jesus’ time. Jesus was not a great rabbinical student. He did not hob-knob with the crowd that Caiaphas hung out with nor rub elbows with Pilate’s or Herod’s friends.

Yet he still sends folks out two by two immediately after all this mocking and tells them, ‘He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”‘ Why? The Gospel of Peace must be preached. It must be made available so that every man, woman, and child may have the opportunity to grow something marvelous from the mustard seed of faith that God has given to all who live. St. Paul asks somewhere, “How will they know, if they do not hear. And how will they hear, if someone is not sent?” As members of the Order of Preachers, Reformed, we are among those that are sent. Each in our various ways are sent to someone somewhere.

But there is a price. There is an old acronym: TANSTAAFL: “Their ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” We will pay a price for following Jesus. If we are not paying a price, we are not truly following him, I think. For some the price may be low and for others it will be high. For some it is all – martyrdom.

The Holy Spirit entered into Ezekiel and told him that he was being sent to the rebellious house of Israel. God had a  message: forgiveness for those who would repent and change their lives to conform to His. But either way, He tells Ezekiel, “Whether or not they listen to you, they will know that a prophet was among them!” That really could have gone to Ezekiel’s head, but it didn’t.

St. Paul did get a bit proud. He had been chosen by the Resurrected Christ. He had been made an Apostle of the Creator of heaven and earth and all that therein is. He tells us, however, that God sent a “thorn in the flesh” to buffet him and keep him from getting prideful about it. He prayed three times to have it removed but instead of removing it, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” St. Paul learned to boast in his weakness instead. When we are weak, then is God’s power free to reign in us; we are no longer the monarchs of our lives. Then will we be a true mirror reflecting His image. Then will we leave people knowing we are Christians by our love, as the old hymn says.

So often we pray for things that we believe will help us out and God answers our prayers … with a resounding, “No.” I often assumed early on that God was calling me to be a pastor. That’s what all priests are supposed to be, aren’t they? No, and I would have failed His calling had I run off in that direction. I would dearly love to say mass in a beautiful neo-Gothic church with vestments of gold damask, 24 karat altar wares, a well trained choir, and … I think you get the idea here. None of these things are, in all honesty, conducive to my calling as a religious priest and hermit. All of them would likely have made me very proud had I succeeded in starting a church and obtained a building and all those things.

As clergy and religious, we need to be more on guard against pride than any other group. We all want to see miracles. I have seen several genuine miracles in my life. We all want to see phenomenal growth in our churches and ministries. We want to help large numbers of poor. We naturally want to boast of the greatness of our churches and denominations.

Let pause that thought for just a minute for a particularly poignant object lesson God once gave me about that. I was living in Michigan and rarely went to church because I worked graveyard shift. One Sunday I was feeling rested enough to stay up for church. My wife and I were attending an Assembly of God parish in our little town. We went early enough to attend a Sunday School class, too. All throughout the class, a long time member kept saying, “The Assemblies of God do this,” and, “The Assemblies of God do that.” In under ten minutes’ time, I was thinking “This guy knows all about the Assembly of God, but does he know anything at all about the God of the Assembly?” His pride in his denomination bordered on idolatry, by all appearances. We must never let ourselves get there.

But we must remember whether events in our ministries are Providential or miraculous, good or bad, it is God Who is the source and supply of all. We must be His hands, His ears, His mouth to others. We cannot be our own. We must follow the example of Him Who came not to be served, but to serve. We, the servants, are not greater than our Master.

Feast Day, 30 April

She was the youngest but one of a very large family. Her father, Giacomo di Benincasa, was a dyer; her mother, Lapa, the daughter of a local poet. They belonged to the lower middle-class faction of tradesmen and petty notaries, known as “the Party of the Twelve”, which between one revolution and another ruled the Republic of Siena from 1355 to 1368. From her earliest childhood Catherine began to see visions and to practice extreme austerities. At the age of seven she consecrated her virginity to Christ; in her sixteenth year she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries, and renewed the life of the anchorites of the desert in a little room in her father’s house. After three years of celestial visitations and familiar conversation with Christ, she underwent the mystical experience known as the “spiritual espousals,” probably during the carnival of 1366. She now rejoined her family, began to tend the sick, especially those afflicted with the most repulsive diseases, to serve the poor, and to labor for the conversion of sinners. Though always suffering terrible physical pain, living for long intervals on practically no food save the Blessed Sacrament, she was ever radiantly happy and full of practical wisdom no less than the highest spiritual insight. All her contemporaries bear witness to her extraordinary personal charm, which prevailed over the continual persecution to which she was subjected even by the friars of her own order and by her sisters in religion. She began to gather disciples round her, both men and women, who formed a wonderful spiritual fellowship, united to her by the bonds of mystical love. During the summer of 1370 she received a series of special manifestations of Divine mysteries, which culminated in a prolonged trance, a kind of mystical death, in which she had a vision of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, and heard a Divine command to leave her cell and enter the public life of the world. She began to dispatch letters to men and women in every condition of life, entered into correspondence with the princes and republics of Italy, was consulted by the papal legates about the affairs of the Church, and set herself to heal the wounds of her native land by staying the fury of civil war and the ravages of faction. She implored the pope, Gregory XI, to leave Avignon, to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States, and ardently threw herself into his design for a crusade, in the hopes of uniting the powers of Christendom against the infidels, and restoring peace to Italy by delivering her from the wandering companies of mercenary soldiers. While at Pisa, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, 1375, she received the Stigmata, although, at her special prayer, the marks did not appear outwardly in her body while she lived.

    Mainly through the misgovernment of the papal officials, war broke out between Florence and the Holy See, and almost the whole of the Papal States rose in insurrection. Catherine had already been sent on a mission from the pope to secure the neutrality of Pisa and Lucca. In June, 1376, she went to Avignon as ambassador of the Florentines, to make their peace; but, either through the bad faith of the republic or through a misunderstanding caused by the frequent changes in its government, she was unsuccessful. Nevertheless she made such a profound impression upon the mind of the pope, that, in spite of the opposition of the French king and almost the whole of the Sacred College, he returned to Rome (17 January, 1377). Catherine spent the greater part of 1377 in effecting a wonderful spiritual revival in the country districts subject to the Republic of Siena, and it was at this time that she miraculously learned to write, though she still seems to have chiefly relied upon her secretaries for her correspondence. Early in 1378 she was sent by Pope Gregory to Florence, to make a fresh effort for peace. Unfortunately, through the factious conduct of her Florentine associates, she became involved in the internal politics of the city, and during a popular tumult (22 June) an attempt was made upon her life. She was bitterly disappointed at her escape, declaring that her sins had deprived her of the red rose of martyrdom. Nevertheless, during the disastrous revolution known as “the tumult of the Ciompi”, she still remained at Florence or in its territory until, at the beginning of August, news reached the city that peace had been signed between the republic and the new pope. Catherine then instantly returned to Siena, where she passed a few months of comparative quiet, dictating her “Dialogue”, the book of her meditations and revelations.

    In the meanwhile the Great Schism had broken out in the Church. From the outset Catherine enthusiastically adhered to the Roman claimant, Urban VI, who in November, 1378, summoned her to Rome. In the Eternal City she spent what remained of her life, working strenuously for the reformation of the Church, serving the destitute and afflicted, and dispatching eloquent letters in behalf of Urban to high and low in all directions. Her strength was rapidly being consumed; she besought her Divine Bridegroom to let her bear the punishment for all the sins of the world, and to receive the sacrifice of her body for the unity and renovation of the Church; at last it seemed to her that the Bark of Peter was laid upon her shoulders, and that it was crushing her to death with its weight. After a prolonged and mysterious agony of three months, endured by her with supreme exultation and delight, from Sexagesima Sunday until the Sunday before the Ascension, she died. Her last political work, accomplished practically from her death-bed, was the reconciliation of Pope Urban VI with the Roman Republic (1380).

    Among Catherine’s principal followers were Fra Raimondo delle Vigne, of Capua (d. 1399), her confessor and biographer, afterwards General of the Dominicans, and Stefano di Corrado Maconi (d. 1424), who had been one of her secretaries, and became Prior General of the Carthusians. Raimondo’s book, the “Legend”, was finished in 1395. A second life of her, the “Supplement”, was written a few years later by another of her associates, Fra Tomaso Caffarini (d. 1434), who also composed the “Minor Legend”, which was translated into Italian by Stefano Maconi. Between 1411 and 1413 the depositions of the surviving witnesses of her life and work were collected at Venice, to form the famous “Process”. Catherine was canonized by Pius II in 1461. The emblems by which she is known in Christian art are the lily and book, the crown of thorns, or sometimes a heart–referring to the legend of her having changed hearts with Christ. Her principal feast is on the 30th of April, but it is popularly celebrated in Siena on the Sunday following. The feast of her Espousals is kept on the Thursday of the carnival.

    The works of St. Catherine of Siena rank among the classics of the Italian language, written in the beautiful Tuscan vernacular of the fourteenth century. Notwithstanding the existence of many excellent manuscripts, the printed editions present the text in a frequently mutilated and most unsatisfactory condition. Her writings consist of

	the “Dialogue”, or “Treatise on Divine Providence”;
	a collection of nearly four hundred letters; and
	a series of “Prayers”.

    The “Dialogue” especially, which treats of the whole spiritual life of man in the form of a series of colloquies between the Eternal Father and the human soul (represented by Catherine herself), is the mystical counterpart in prose of Dante’s “Divina Commedia”.

    A smaller work in the dialogue form, the “Treatise on Consummate Perfection”, is also ascribed to her, but is probably spurious. It is impossible in a few words to give an adequate conception of the manifold character and contents of the “Letters”, which are the most complete expression of Catherine’s many-sided personality. While those addressed to popes and sovereigns, rulers of republics and leaders of armies, are documents of priceless value to students of history, many of those written to private citizens, men and women in the cloister or in the world, are as fresh and illuminating, as wise and practical in their advice and guidance for the devout Catholic today as they were for those who sought her counsel while she lived. Others, again, lead the reader to mystical heights of contemplation, a rarefied atmosphere of sanctity in which only the few privileged spirits can hope to dwell. The key-note to Catherine’s teaching is that man, whether in the cloister or in the world, must ever abide in the cell of self-knowledge, which is the stable in which the traveler through time to eternity must be born again.

Born: March 25, 1347 at Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Died: April 29, 1380 of a mysterious and painful illness that came on without notice, and was never properly diagnosed

Canonized: July 1461 by Pope Pius II

Representation: cross; crown of thorns; heart; lily; ring; stigmata

Patronage: against fire, bodily ills, diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, Europe, fire prevention, firefighters, illness, Italy, miscarriages, nurses, nursing services, people ridiculed for their piety, sexual temptation, sick people, sickness, Siena Italy, temptations

It is with great joy that we welcome Fr. Bryan Wolf into our family as our newest postulant!  Fr. Bryan comes to us from NJ, is an ordained RCC priest, and will make a wonderful addition to our Order.  Please give him a heartfelt welcome and welcome him into our community.  Thanks be to God!!!

A reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15; 12  Now if Christ be preached, that he arose again from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again.  14  And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain: and your faith is also vain.  15  Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we have given testimony against God, that he hath raised up Christ, whom he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again.  16  For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again.  17  And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain: for you are yet in your sins.  18  Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  20  But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep:  21  For by a man came death: and by a man the resurrection of the dead.  22  And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.  23  But every one in his own order: the firstfruits, Christ: then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.  24  Afterwards the end: when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father: when he shall have brought to nought all principality and power and virtue.  25  For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.  26  And the enemy, death, shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet.  (Douay-Rheims Bible)

A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, chapter 28:  1  And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.  2  And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and coming rolled back the stone and sat upon it.  3  And his countenance was as lightning and his raiment as snow.  4  And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror and became as dead men.  5  And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  6  He is not here. For he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid.  7  And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen. And behold he will go before you into Galilee. There you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.  8  And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.  9  And behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him.  (Douay-Rheims Bible)

How often have we heard about  “The sweet by and by?” How often have we heard the expression, “When I get to heaven, I want to…”? We, in America, so often find ourselves saying things like these. We participate in Pew Research polls about our religious life and they tell us that we have fallen into a trap that a Sunday School teacher  I admired around 21 years ago warned me about. He said, “Never get so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.”

That’s a powerful statement. We are so sure, as Christians, that we have all the answers, that we have a sure thing and … And what? For some of us it is a ticket to escapism. We separate from the world and retreat into the promises of the world to come. For others, we have to rescue this present world from the evil forces of [insert: Satan, Hell, Liberals, Conservatives, Communists, Fascists and racists, or your favorite present-day evil].  This political season has seen the most vicious politicking in a long time. Many think this is the least humane election season since Andrew Jackson was elected in the early Nineteenth Century.  There are Christians from all over the political map who are sparring with one another  over issues of public morality, social justice, and a pantheon of other sacred cows.

So what does any of this have to do with Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? I would say this: Jesus Christ is the very God we claim, come in the flesh of humanity. He is the Lord “through Whom all things were made,” according to the Nicene Creed. The Resurrection is not about rescuing  us from this world, it is about restoring this world  and our place in it.  Look at who Jesus had following Him: sailors, insurgents, tax-farmers, prostitutes, widows, lepers, and, on occasion wealthy folks. The so-called 1% and the so-called 99%. Rulers, workers, and the dregs of society. Young and old.  He came and told us what we should do: “As I have loved you, love one another.” He lived out the ultimate example of what that means. Then he said, “No greater love hath any man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Then He did just that. But it was not just to save us from our sins, though it was most assuredly that. It was the sign, the seal, that proved He was Who He said He was and that His word was true.

If Jesus is not risen, St. Paul tells us, then we really are the most wretched of all folks. If, on the other hand, He really is Risen, we are the most blessed of all people. And if He really is risen, then we have an obligation one to another to serve our fellow man as He served us.  And we have an obligation to share this Good News with our fellow man. We have to make the blessings we have thus gained available to every human. And we have an obligation to show that there really is truth to the old song, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

“And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.” (St. Luke 23:36, KJV) Whose cross have you carried lately? Whose burden have you taken up as your own?
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (St. Matthew 25:32-40, KJV) If Jesus, God from all eternity can condescend to the kenosis, the self-emptying of His Divinity to take on our humanity and carry the cross of our sins, how much more should we carry one another’s crosses in imitation of Him Who died and rose for us and His carrying of our burdens debts to Him for no other reason than we needed Him to. I challenge each of you: As Jesus died for us on Good Friday so long ago, let each of us die to self this day. As Jesus rose to newness of life on Easter Sunday so long ago, let us rise to a new life of self-less caring for others even at our own expense simply because they need us to do it. I believe that is what Jesus would do — because it is what He did!

Mark 11:1-11

“Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” – BCP, page 219

When we are in Christ Jesus, our Father sees our sins no more – He has promised to not only forgive our sins, He promises not to even remember them in Jeremiah 31:34. Christ is our representative to Our Heavenly Father, everything Jesus is, all that the Father sees in Christ is how the Father sees us. Because, when we serve Christ and truly do what Jesus would do, we are like that single grain of wheat our Lord speaks of in today’s Gospel, John 12:20-33. And then we are resurrected in Christ, and only then can we bear much fruit. When we love our life too much… when our focus is on OUR will being carried out, OUR actions being shown to our neighbors, OUR selfish desires being pursued, then we set ourselves up for an automatic failure. As the Lord tells us in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (NIV) And when Jesus says NOTHING, He means NOTHING. Nothing we put our hand, mind, or energy into can truly prosper in a Holy way, in the way of the Lord. Our mission is to do His Will, and to walk in His Ways so that He receives the glory that He is worthy, alone, of.

The wonderful things is that when we return to Our Father, with repentant, broken, and contrite hearts, ask for His merciful, loving forgiveness, He no longer sees what WE have done or said. He sees us white and pure as the driven snow. He sees Christ Jesus, His Son, Our Lord. And when we are redeemed, we don’t have to feel the pain of guilt, depression, regret, or anger over our forgiven sins. We are new. We have the guiltless, guiding Holy Spirit, God within us. And our neighbors can see the Lord shine through in our lives.

This Lenten season has been filled with trials and temptations for me, but falling on Christ, asking Him to replace my faults with His abundant ability, my difficulties and condemnation with His strength and grace, it has also been a truly rewarding experience, learning opportunity and a time of growth.

So let us pray, not just as we did the Fifth Sunday in Lent, but throughout the year – daily, as we did in the day’s collect : For God to bring the order needed to our unruly ways and sinful desires – He alone can give the us the grace needed to follow His will, to love His ways, and the wanting of His promises fulfilled. For in God only may we find the true joy – He alone is the key to a happy, love-filled, successful, and fulfilled life.
Because, just like our Lord, we too have been put here and now for a purpose, to glorify God’s Name in all that we think, say or do.