Gospel, Homily and Coffee

The word “Freedom” like “love” gets used a lot, and I think abused a lot, especially in our English and American culture. St. Paul contemplates it and writes of it; Freedom in its truest sense. Freedom, that ability to be the good persons that we are created by God to be. Freedom, the ability to do choose to do good. Freedom, in our Christian viewpoint, is NOT about civil liberty; nor about the ability to do things that “I” want do, whether it has to do with our body, our guns, our things. This is how we as Christians, as Catholics, make the distinction. Freedom has more depth it is part of our core being. Civil liberties come and go; they are passing inventions of humankind.  They are controlled by laws, politics, et al. Freedom...well the only thing that inhibit it is within our own selves. Paul talks of Flesh and Spirit.  Flesh, is really another way of saying, egocentric behavior.   It is about being concerned with the me, myself and I.  It is a reac...

I am a fan of genealogy. I have done the whole genetic testing, family tree. I like to see our connections and find relationships, understand our family roots. I believe a lot of Americans feel this way. The vast majority of us came from other countries, and we have this inherent desire to know our roots. I wonder if it is because of our immigrant roots. I remember my grandparents talking about their own parents and the “old country”, and I was fascinated by it. What about our spiritual roots? Our Spiritual DNA? This is a part of our Celebration today, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. See, at our core, the very core of our being, what forms the roots of all other ways we identify ourselves, we are the children of God. In a sense, that is all of salvation right there: freedom to be the children of God. Being Human is being a Child of God. The trick, the spiritual life, is to live it out. Jesus Christ is our role model, our mentor, and of cou...