WHICH is the GREATEST?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all of the information that is coming to you through the cable news networks, or the all news radio programs, or newspapers and magazines, or the biggest one of all - the internet? It is a lot to try to take in. It really can be too much.

A man named Jack Dorsey had an interesting idea - cut through all of the information and get right to the point. So he decided that if you want to communicate something on the internet you had to say it in 140 characters or less. He made an allowance that if a person reading the short statement wanted to know more about the information you could follow a link, a pathway to a further explanation. But Dorsey's key point was short and to the point. Thus twitter was born.

I think Jesus was way ahead of his time, way ahead of twitter. In yet another challenge from the leaders of his time a scholar of the law tested Jesus by asking,

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

Now there were over 600 laws, that's a lot of information, and Jesus was asked to pick one. Impossible, this was yet another impossible request from the leaders of the time.  YET, in a twitter kind of way, a short and to the point response,  Jesus responds:

"You shall love the Lord, your God,

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Jesus gets right to the point, he identifies the greatest commandment - it is all about LOVE. Jesus combines the great Shema, a prayer that devout Jews recited every morning and night. A prayer that was a command to love God absolutely, a prayer that was to be written on their very hearts. He combined that prayer with a  familiar passage from Leviticus -

“You must love your neighbor as yourself”.

Now Jesus, mind you, was not asked for two great laws, but he gave two as one. The entire will of God and purpose of our life is to love God with our whole being and our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus understood the interlocking of the two commandments in a new and quite radical way.

You cannot have one without the other.

Without the love of neighbor, the love of God remains a barren emotion; and without the love of God, love of neighbor is but a refined form of self-love. The combined command teaches us to strive for humility before our gracious God and obedient service to others, especially the poor.

Loving our neighbor means more than being kind to our friends and relatives, or to the person who lives next door.

Loving one’s neighbor means:

doing right by any widow or orphan

seeing that the hungry are fed and the homeless sheltered

that the poor have their basic needs met

that the unemployed do not suffer from want

that the young are educated and the old are cared for.

To do less is to fail in our love for neighbor.

To do less is also to keep us from fully loving our all-loving God.

Who Do We Belong To?

As I put my Phillies jerseys away I thought of the last game that I attended. It was the first playoff game. There were over 45,000 red clad, towel waving screaming fans. But entering our row and sitting right next to us was a lone Cardinal fan complete with hat and jersey. He admitted that he was a bit intimidated but confessed that he was a committed fan. The Phillies didn't make it easy for that fellow but he never wavered. He never gave up. He stayed to the very end.

Jesus said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"

They replied, "Caesar's."

At that he said to them,

"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar

and to God what belongs to God."

Isn't Jesus asking us this question ... Who do we belong to?

In the baseball world, my answer to the question would be ...

I belong to the Phillies.

BUT ... would I have the same enthusiasm if I were like that Cardinals fan and I was all alone in a hostile stadium. Would I still boldly say ...

I belong to the Phillies.

Jesus isn't talking to u about baseball. He wants to know about our hearts and He asks each of us ... Who do we belong to?

The answer is clear ... You and I are made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, the good news is

WE BELONG TO GOD!

Gathering in Church on Sundays we are surrounded by others who share in our belief and understanding that we are sons and daughters of God. Through the Word of God proclaimed we learn what it means to belong to God. And by receiving His gift of love in the Eucharist we are empowered to live as members of the family of God. This experience helps to re-enforce the truth that

WE BELONG TO GOD.   

But the challenge is living this truth throughout the week in all the various situations we find ourselves in.

FAMILY GATHERINGS ... inevitably Uncle Joe starts in on the Catholic Church ... on and on he goes criticizing everything ... what do we do?

WORK ... we notice one person after the other slacking off, taking longer breaks and still paid the same... what do we do?

FRIENDS ... watching a game and the next thing you know it becomes jokes and story time. The problem is the jokes are off-color ... what do we do?

And on and on ... It is in these everyday situations that we can start feeling like that isolated Cardinals' fan at the ballpark. We can and will be tempted to hide who we really belong to.

What we need to realize that in these everyday situations we are never alone. Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit would be with us to lead us and to guide us. In the midst of these tough situations we need to turn and ask the Holy Spirit for help. A short prayer nothing dramatic but with an openness that God is with us and will show us the way. That the Holy Spirit will enable us to live out each and every day the answer to the question ...

Who do we belong to?

With confidence and enthusiasm - Home or Away - we can enthusiastically proclaim through our words and our actions ...

WE BELONG TO GOD.

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

For centuries in the liturgy, the Church has proclaimed the mercy of God through the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The tables of Word and Sacrament are heaped with the promises of Divine Mercy and its grand effect in the lives of millions. It is this great blessing of mercy received that must be shared, must be proclaimed, must be given away to other sinners that they might come to know and experience the love of the Risen Lord.

Pope John Paul II shared, proclaimed, and gave away to sinners the beautiful gift of Divine Mercy. Our Holy Father's second encyclical to the Church  examined some of the “major anxieties of our time” and said that God’s mercy is what is needed in the world “at this hour of history.”  In the year 2000 at the canonization of St. Faustina Pope John Paul proclaimed to the world that the second Sunday of Easter will be called Divine Mercy Sunday. Some 70 years ago St. Faustina was directed to paint this particular image. The icon depicts the Risen Lord with red and white rays coming forth from His heart symbolizing the sacramental life in the Church, showing to us His Mercy, it simply says: Jesus, I trust in You.

Finally, in an amazing story of mercy captured on the cover of Time Magazine in January 1984 is a picture of Pope John Paul and his would be assassin with the title - Why Forgive? Our Holy Father put the message of Mercy into practice when he embraced his enemy and pardoned him.  

What joy there is in our Church this day that this lover of Divine Mercy would take a step closer to sainthood by being declared in the city of Rome -

Blessed John Paul.

Let us be like Blessed John Paul and share the Divine Mercy of God with all thepeople that we meet each and every day.

And the winner is ...

Everyone is leaving the red carpet. The 2011 Oscars are over and the winner for best picture is ...

One late Saturday afternoon my wife and I decided to go to the movies. With so many movies to choose from we relied on the advice of a friend who had mentioned they were deeply touched by The King's Speech. It was our good fortune that the advice was good. Knowing that there is nothing worse than a movie spoiler I will refrain from discussing the plot. Instead I want to focus on a life lesson that  was demonstrated through the characters of this story.

Each of us experiences trials and difficulties, sometimes these problems are obvious but sometimes  noone knows what they are but us. The struggles are real in both situations. Trying to deal with these difficulties by ourselves can become overwhelming. What we need are people who will stand with us - not judging, not blaming, not putting us down, but people who will love us for who we are and who will be ready to help us in whatever way is necessary. Sometimes they will stand with us in silence, but there are other times that they will need to speak a strong word to help us get back on track. This is true friendship, a willingness to suffer with another - compassion.

When you see this movie perhaps you will agree that one very important reason for this movie being an award winner is the vivid illustration of true compassion for another person and how such a concern can be a life changing experience.

Thank You, Mr. Presidents!

When I was a young boy we didn’t have a Presidents’ Weekend we celebrated the actual birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. By far my favorite of the two celebrations was George Washington’s because on that day we would have sugar cookies shaped like hatchets and lots of cherry pie. But my parents seized the moment to tell me about George when he was about my age. Remember the story. George received a brand new hatchet and immediately went out and about trying out his new gift. However, one victim of his hatchet was his father’s favorite cherry tree. When his father saw the tree he was very angry and asked George if he knew what happened to the tree. George, surprised at first, then replied, “I cannot tell a lie, father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it down.” My parents would emphasize that if I wanted to grow up and be someone special – even to be the president – it was important for me to be good, to be honest, to always tell the truth. So they set before me a new goal.

Reflecting on Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. you will see Jesus seizing the moment and setting before us a new goal. Jesus is replacing the old rules with new ones. He is raising the bar on what it means to be a disciple. Jesus is challenging us to go beyond what is expected, beyond what we might think is reasonable or even achievable. He is calling us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and pray for those who persecute you.

The question is how can we respond to the goal of Jesus. Think of times someone has hurt you, where you have been betrayed or a relationship has been destroyed. All that seems to come to mind is revenge, striking back, certainly not loving them, nor praying for them. But here is how President Lincoln responded:

During the Civil War, President Lincoln made a speech in which he referred to the Southern Confederates as “erring human beings,’ rather than as enemies of the United States. An elderly lady complained to him, “Mr. President, how can you refer to such slave-holding rebels as ‘erring human beings’; they are actually sworn enemies of the Union and of freedom.” Lincoln replied calmly, “Why, madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them friends?’ Lincoln was putting the new goal of Jesus into practice.

The Spirit of the living God will do it! The Holy Spirit can make the impossible  - possible; can empower us to pray and love our enemies. The Holy Spirit can help us strive to become more like Jesus. The spirit of the living God can help us to always tell the truth or to destroy our enemies by making them friends.

We need to say Yes. We need to daily pray Come Holy Spirit!

A SUPER CITY

Did you survive Super Bowl Sunday? It always amazes me that unless your favorite team is playing, the game becomes secondary. There are hours and hours of programming - musical performances both good and not so good, interviews with all sorts of people, and of course the commercials. With all of this TV coverage the only thing I learned about the Green Bay area was they have a championship football team, that the weather is very cold, and a lot of their fans like to wear cheese shaped hats.

But if I could can I mention one other important fact about the Green Bay area.

In 1855 at the age of twenty-four and the oldest of four children of Belgian immigrants, Adele Brise came with her family to the Green Bay area. Adele had intended to join a religious community when she came to America, but her first days in Wisconsin were taken up with the hard work of farming and pioneer life.

Adele’s life changed in early October 1859. While carrying grain to a mill about four miles from her home, Mary appeared to her. A few days later, on October 9, while walking to Sunday Mass in Bay Settlement, about eleven miles from home, Mary appeared to her again. After Mass, Adele told the pastor about what she had seen. He said to her, “Ask in God’s name who it was and what it desired of her.” On the way, home, Mary appeared a third time and Adele asked the question as the pastor had suggested. Mary responded:

"I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners and I wish you to do the same. Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross and how to approach the sacraments."

Adele Brise dedicated the rest of her life to doing what Mary instructed. She gathered the children near her home and taught them the faith. She also traveled to other farms, sometimes as far as fifty miles away, to do the same. She faced challenges of the forest and weather that were often easier to handle than ridicule that came from those who didn’t believe that Mary had appeared to her.

Eventually, a school and chapel were built at the site of the appearances. Adele gathered a lay community known as the Sisters of Good Help.

December 8, 2010, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, was a momentous day for the Church and for the United States of America. It was on that day that Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay issued a decree that authenticated the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Adele Brise. The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, is now worthy of belief as a site where Mary really appeared along the level of Guadalupe in Mexico, Lourdes in France, and Fatima in Portugal. Mary’s appearances to Adele Brise are the first Marian apparitions approved by the Church for the United States.

So Green Bay is not only the home of the Super Bowl Champions but also the home of a SUPER natural appearance of the Blessed Mother.