Just a reminder if you missed Tuesday's Through The Cross... you can watch it on The Sunday Mass website anytime! Through The Cross with Fr. Paul Why not take a look?

Today’s Thoughts: Spy Wednesday, (Isaiah 50: 4-9a and Matthew 26: 14-25), the day when we pause to remember Judas’ actions many years ago. A companion, a friend of Jesus yet he allows the forces of darkness, the forces of evil to become more a friend than Jesus.
 
We do not truly know what motivated Judas. Was it his desire for money? Was it that he truly thought he would scare Jesus into changing his approach to life? Was it that he saw Jesus as a threat?  Was it that he was angry with Jesus? Had he been caught stealing money? Was he upset that Jesus challenged him at Lazarus’ house? We just don’t know the motive.
 
What we do know is the Judas sold Jesus out to the religious leadership. What we do know is that Judas could not admit to Jesus what he was about to do. He could not tell the truth and that until the end he continued to see himself as Jesus’ friend.
 
We pause to reflect on the events of the Gospel in light of the violence and hate in our world today. Violence is a betrayal of one human against another. Hate is a betrayal of one human against another. Violence and hate are all too common in our world, our country and our own hearts these days. Before we point our finger at others, before we vent our anger on social media, before we betray another by our words or actions let us pause to remember who has given us life and what we did to him many years ago. Let us not make the same mistake once again!
 
The Prophet Isaiah today reminds himself of who his friend truly is, God. That no matter what happens God is there to protect Isaiah in his ministry as prophet. It is not easy but Isaiah is faithful to his ministry and God is faithful to Isaiah, helping him through the struggle.
 
We encounter Isaiah’s words and in them we see Jesus. We listen to Isaiah’s words and hear Jesus speaking. Jesus is the servant who suffers, the servant who trusts in God, the servant who is abandoned by everyone except by God.
 
The questions for today – Are we with God or against God? Can we remain friends of Jesus or will the trappings of the world, will anger and hate cause us to betray him once again? Can we trust in God even in the midst of our struggles? It is often said that every person has her or his price, what is our price?
 
Blessings and peace to all on this Wednesday of Holy Week!

Join us on Today April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th  you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live

Today’s Thoughts: Troublemakers and troubleshooters are two very different types of people. Troublemakers are those people who create anxiety, frustration, agitation and cause calamity, i.e. there are a host of people we can call troublemakers these days in culture and society, outside religion and inside religion, outside the Church and inside the Church. Troubleshooters are those people who have the ability to identify, locate and eliminate the source of the disturbance. Unfortunately, not many of these today! In today’s Gospel (John 13: 21-33, 36-38) Judas is a troublemaker and Jesus is a troubleshooter.
 
In the Gospel we are told that Jesus is deeply troubled and as we read on and picturing the scene we quickly understand why. The scene today is the Last Supper and Jesus is aware of the events ahead of him. He knows that Judas will betray him and in the midst of the supper Jesus sends him on his way. We all know what it feels like to lose a friend. We invest time, effort, our emotions and feelings only to have the person move on, decide that we are not worth the time, effort and trouble. Jesus has given three years to Judas, but Judas needs to move on.
 
Jesus has given three years to all of his disciples, yet he knows they will all run away before the night is over. One of his closest friends, Peter, will deny that he knows Jesus even though we listen to his bold statement of loyalty in the Gospel. Yes, it is a troubling time for Jesus.
 
However, unlike the troublemaker Judas, Jesus does not run away. He identifies the problem, the struggle, the difficulty. Jesus realizes that humankind has “fallen from love.” That is our original sin; we have fallen from God’s love. Jesus the troubleshooter is going to restore the gift of that love by his journey to the cross the empty tomb. Jesus set us free to embrace the mystery of God’s love. It is up to us to turn away from sin but through the action of Jesus, the troubleshooter, we are given the chance to once again “fall in love with God!”
 
As we journey through this day let us remember what Jesus has done for us. Let us look at the cross and “fall in love once again!”
 
Have a blessed Holy Tuesday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: As we begin this most Holy of Weeks our readings (Isaiah 42:1-7 and John 12: 1-11) remind us of the good of this week and the bad. We are reminded of the compassion and love of Jesus. We are reminded of the caring and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. We are reminded of the impact that Jesus had on peoples' lives. We are reminded how Judas lost his focus and turned away from Jesus.
 
These early days of Holy Week set the scene, the characters and the focus for the Triduum. They give us the background of the story that will lead us to Calvary and the empty tomb. They remind us of how easy it is to get lost in the trappings of the world. They remind us how easy it is to be distracted by the things of the world and to not recognize the presence of God. They remind us of how hard it is to be faithful people.
 
The scene today also reminds of the fact the Jesus is willing to accept extravagance when it is done in love. Jesus appreciates the extravagance of Mary's true love because Jesus and the Father are always about offering true love, the true love of the Cross which we will celebrate later this week.
 
What extravagant gesture of love can we offer someone this week? How can we make God's presence known and felt in our world this week? Remember God never turns away from a humble and contrite heart. Let us not be like Judas, someone who cannot grasp the love and support of God, rather let us be like Martha, Mary and Lazarus people who are friends of God!
 
Have a blessed Monday of Holy Week everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Several years ago, Pope Francis invited us to renew our relationship with Jesus when he said,
 
“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!”
 
It is my feeling that Pope Francis’ invitation focus us on the gift of this Holy Week. It is an invitation to once again enter a personal relationship with our God who loved us so much that he gave us his only son. As we journey through Holy Week, we relive the crowning moment of Jesus’ journey, his journey of love. Today Jesus enters Jerusalem to take his last steps, steps that sum up his whole existence. He gave himself without reserve he kept nothing for himself, not even his life. May we take Pope Francis’ invitation to heart and live the mercy and joy of the Gospel proclaimed today!
 
As we begin this most holy of weeks, we are reminded of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. This wonderful, “Hosanna” filled day is the starting point for the central story of all the Gospels, Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. Today, we reconnect ourselves to all those first gatherings of the Church as we listen to Luke's accounts of Palm Sunday and the Passion of our Lord. We remember the triumphant ride over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem and the lonely walk to Calvary. We once again tell the story of triumphant, glory, hosanna, struggle, pain, sorrow, blessing, truth, giftedness, prayer and most importantly love. Like the early Church and all the centuries of Church that have gone before us, we are asked to remember, to believe, to have faith and to hope in the love and mercy of God as lived out by our Lord Jesus Christ. As we journey through this Holy Week, “May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Truly Be Always in Our Hearts!”
 
Have a holy and blessed Palm/Passion Sunday everyone!

​Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th  you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live

Today’s Thoughts: The stage is set today for Holy Week. All the characters are taking their places for the drama that will unfold throughout the coming week. The religious leadership has made its choice. They are afraid of Jesus; their comfortable life has been disturbed. Caiaphas has given the justification for the rest of their actions. He has put their social problems squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. He has put their leadership problems squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. He has put their fear and faithlessness squarely on the shoulders of Jesus.
 
With today’s Gospel (John 11: 45-56) we have a clear understanding of why all that we are about to reflect upon as we go through Holy Week has taken place. In many ways the ideal kingdom that Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37: 21-28) images in the first reading for today has not come about. There still is not just one God, one land, one people and one everlasting covenant of peace. We humans get in the way. We often fail to recognize God in our midst. We struggle to trust God’s presence in our life. We find it difficult to believe, to stake our lives on the promises of God. We are always looking for someone to blame, someone to sacrifice in the hope that things will get better.
 
As we prepare to begin this most holy of weeks let us take the time, not to plot against God, but to hear God’s word. Let us take the time to have faith in our relationship with God, to be people of faith on the journey, to be hopeful in the promises of God and to allow the love of God to embrace us and live within us as we journey through life!
 
Saturday blessings to everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Both Jesus and Jeremiah find themselves in difficult situations today. For Jeremiah it is the reality of being a prophet, the people do not like what God is calling them to and so they are going to take it out on the messenger, the prophet. For Jesus it is the reality that people just will not accept him. He has done many good things, but people focus in on what they see as a problem, they look passed all the good, they only see the negative.
 
Isn’t that often the case, wonderful things can be happening, yet people only focus on the negative. Whether we are talking about faith, church, religion, culture or society there can be many signs of hope, many actions that are good yet for some reason what is wrong, the negative, becomes the focus. We tend to look for what is wrong with a person, an experience or situation rather than what is right and good. At times it seems like we can make every positive story, situation, experience or person into a negative just give us time.
 
How can we overcome this? How can we be a positive life-giving person today? How can we find the good and the hope in life? Well I think Jeremiah and Jesus give us the answer.
 
Jeremiah in the midst of his struggle says, “But the Lord is with me….” Yes, life isn’t exactly the best at this moment, things are not going so well, but God is with me! Jeremiah turns a negative into a positive. Jeremiah finds hope in a struggling moment.
 
Jesus reminds the crowd to look for and believe in good works. In other words, find the goodness in the actions and works of yourself and others. Find what is right with the world, not what is wrong!
 
This is certainly a different way to live life and living this way will be challenged every day. The media and I realize that it is not just the media or all the media’s fault, but with its twenty-four hour a day focus, its need to create news, it has helped us to constantly look for the negative. Let’s face it we like negative, we like seeing people’s faults and failings, negative stories sell. The stories that most often seem to capture the attention of the viewers are those that focus of the negatives of life. We search and hunt for all that is wrong. We seem to take delight in pointing the finger, in bringing a person down rather than finding the good and building up.
 
Perhaps our challenge today is to look for the good work in ourselves and others and to believe that God is always with us!
 
Have a great Friday everyone!

​Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th  you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live