Father's DAy 2014

Father’s Day Today, let us honor the Father of all Fathers, Our heavenly Father, Almighty God, who loves unconditionally all of his children. Our Father God’s love for us in infinite and full of compassion, mercy and most of all forgiveness. For parents and children who are estranged from each other they need to reach out to each other to seek/give forgiveness just as Christ taught us in the parable of the Good Shepherd. In it God as the Good Shepherd would leave the flock to seek out the lost sheep and return it to the flock. With God as our Father, we are all, every person on this planet, brothers and sisters and we are also brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ, the son of God our father. On this Father’s day when most children seek to find a special gift for their earthly fathers we need to explore what gift we are going to offer to our Heavenly Father. For children who have two fathers which in my mind this is a double blessing for them but, sadly some children have never known their earthly father because of their passing before they had a chance to know them or through divorce or other circumstances. Our Father in heaven is a loving, caring, compassionate and merciful father, not the God of vengeance of the Old Testament and Christ proclaimed that while He was here on earth. Now is the time for each and every one of us, to acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters with the same heavenly father and for us to begin to act with the same compassion and love toward each other that Christ exhibited while he was on earth to all He encountered. On this Father’s day let us make a gift to God that will be truly pleasing to Him and take action in keeping with how we as brothers and sisters and children of our Father God Almighty should be acting. Let us begin to make the changes in this world that will bring about a time of brotherhood, justice, compassion and equality for every child of God and our brothers and sisters in Christ not for just a few chosen by one group or another because they feel comfortable with them but for ALL. When Christ taught us to pray He said; “When you pray, say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on this earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our trespassers and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil” In the liturgy of the Eucharist the priest continues this prayer with these words before the congregation responds “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever” “Deliver us Lord from every evil, and grant us the peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ” and then we acknowledge “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. AMEN

Trinity Sunday Reflection

Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2014 Trinity Sunday 2014 A Reflection based on Readings from Exodus, 43, Daniel 3, Corinthians 13, John 3 By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFD Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy An All Inclusive and Welcoming Old Catholic Parish and Ministry Of the Independent Catholic Church of the Americas Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Web Site: www.franciscansdivinemercy.org Link to all Fr. Bob’s REFLECTIONS TV Shows http://www.youtube.com/user/RevBobJohn Link to St. Joseph Cupertino Parish: http://stjosephcupertino.com/index.html Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FranciscansDivineMercy?fref=ts Link to the Independent Catholic Church of the Americas http://www.iccamericas.org Email Address: Divinemercyparish@msn.com In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, with these words almost every Christian denomination begins prayers. It is an acknowledgement of the triune nature of Almighty God. In the first reading from Exodus we read where God himself proclaimed to Moses the following; “"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." The Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday comes from the book of Daniel and is the ultimate praise prayer that we should profess every day and one which we Franciscans do say at least twice a day in keeping with the fact that St. Francis himself prayed it often throughout the day. It is simple and yet very powerful. “Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all age, Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever!” The second reading informs us on how we should live with one another and again it is a message of extending love like that Christ exhibited to all we meet especially our family, friends and members of our Faith Community. The reading tells us to; “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” The reading ends with a prayer that we say several times as we celebrate the Mass but is actually the words of St. Paul to the church of Corinth letting them know that God is one, three expressions or hypostases; Father is the Creator of all things, The Son is the human manifestation of God made man, and the Holy Spirit is the enlightener. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” The fourth Lateran Council declared the following; "it is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds") and in their relations with one another, they are stated to be one in all else, co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial meaning, (of one being" in that the Son is "generated" ("born" or "begotten") "before all ages" or "eternally" of the Father's own being, from which the Spirit also eternally "proceeds." and "each is God, whole and entire". This belief is the central mystery of most Christian Faiths. Accordingly, the whole work of creation and grace is seen as a single operation common to all three divine persons, in which each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, so that all things are "from the Father", "through the Son" and "in the Holy Spirit". The Gospel begins by reminding us of how much God and His beloved son loves us when it says; “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” St. John then goes on to remind us that God is not interested in being a God of condemnation; “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” It is, I believe, very appropriate this year Trinity Sunday celebrating the 3 distinct separate manifestations of Almighty God yet the unity of them happens to fall this year on Father’s Day since Christ called God His Father. He even told us that when we pray, say; “Our Father who art in heaven” God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in every way. Whatever attributes and power God the Father has, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have as well. "Thus, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are also eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely loving, and omniscient." All 3 personas of God are the same and therefore the great power and force that is God is LOVE. Pope Benedict summed it up for us in his first encyclical DEUS CARITAS EST which means, God is Love. To sum up, if we are to become Christ like or God like, we need to work hard on being more loving and accepting of everyone, even those who don’t always treat us well. That is very difficult, but remember, as he hung on the Cross Christ called out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. To be forgiving of those who have done harm to us is the ultimate way of expressing Love but it is extremely difficult and requires us to be reject the normal human reaction to retaliate. I find that I need to constantly implore the Paraclete to give me the strength and inspiration to be able to become more loving in my relationships with those who do not always treat me well. And since God is generous and loving I find that somehow I am able to forgive and be cordial to those who have hurt me. Whether we pray to God in the name of Adonai, Yahweh, El-Olam, Jesus or The Paraclete (Holy Spirit) we are praying to the one and only God. The same God that Abraham, Isaac, Moses, King David, Jacob, Mohammad, the Apostles and all the Saints prayed too. All this Sunday’s readings honoring the Blessed Trinity of God; the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit proclaim one extremely important message to us and it is; “we need to burn into our memory and hold it fast since it sums up the most important thing we need to know about God. God is a God of LOVE, MERCY, and COMPASSION. In essence, God is consummate LOVE. Therefore, let us establish a line of communication with God and let us try to have more love for all those we encounter. Just possibly, if we can achieve that goal it will start spreading like a virus that invades people turning hearts of stone into hearts filled with compassion, mercy and the desire for a world without war, hunger, poverty, homelessness and prejudice. Let us pray; Morning Prayer of St. Francis Almighty, most holy most high and supreme God, all good, supreme good, totally good, You Who alone are good, may we give back to you all praise, all glory, all grace, all honor, all blessing, and all good. So be it, so be it. AMEN

Trinity Sunday June 15, 2014