Gospel, Homily and Coffee

Decision making…not always the easiest thing to do or accomplish. And that is just on our own and what we want for breakfast, or whether we give into the dark side and place pineapple on our pizza (Don’t!).  Then add in decision making with a group of people over something that becomes more important and has an effect on even more people… Remember the series “The Good Place”? It was a brilliant show on so many levels. One level was about ethics and how we make choices and live them out. Chidi, the professional ethicist of the group, used to be paralyzed in his decision making because he would go through all the possible outcomes but never be able to make a decision. It was in part why he was not actually not sent to “the Good place.” Spoiler alert. How do we make decisions? What forms the basis of our ethics? Our morality? Probably most of us have never thought about it, yet we all have a system of ethics. We become inculcated in a system as children, passed along through ...

In the 2nd Reading from Revelation, did we notice something? A popular misconception is that this book talks about a future end of the world. Yet it never speaks of the destruction; yes, trial and tribulation, but the end is that Heaven and Earth are one. The Heavenly city of Jerusalem comes down to Earth, they are one. And John does not speak necessarily of a future, but of a reality that was taking place in his time. He was speaking about the rise of the Christian faith and those who believed in the message of Jesus Christ, the Son of God come down from Heaven. He spoke of the faith of disciples. God’s great will and plan have always been the unity of Heaven and Earth, the spiritual and the material. God created humanity to help fulfill this plan; but humanity has rejected it and many of us still do so. It is the “Original Sin”. Almost two years ago we embarked on a process of transforming the culture of our parish, called “Belonging leads to Believing”. We build up community,...

My therapist who helped me gain control over depression taught me a valuable lesson about voices, especially those in my head. He said that my voice and God’s voice will speak from the heart with clear language. Other voices that are not mine will always use “should” or its variants (ought). It was a major step for me. I have asked this question and it has been asked of me many times…how do we hear Jesus, how do we hear the voice of God? 99.9999999999% of the time it is not an audible voice, but a pull, an intuition towards goodness.  Not easiness, but goodness. The cross was not easy, but it was good. Jesus will speak the voice that says “Forgive. Trust. Accept forgiveness. You are loved.”  These do not come in mystical visions, or apparitions, but often in those moments of decision. “What do I need and/or want to do?”  And we have to practice listening to Jesus. The more we stop ourselves, really try to make the effort to listen to him and hear his voice, the ...