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

Suggested Meditation For Second Week Of Lent

Reflection On The Our Father for Lent
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

My suggested focus meditation point for the second week of Lent is found in the Gospel of Matthew 6: 7-15 where Jesus teaches the Apostles how to pray and then gives them the prayer we know as THE OUR FATHER. His first instruction is on how we should pray at all times, Jesus tells us “ In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
In this first part of the reading Jesus is telling us not to rattle off our prayers in a hurry and to actually take time to think about what we are saying. Prayer is not just a recitation of the words but is a conversation with Almighty God, Christ or Our Blessed mother. We are talking with them as though they were there in the room with us. This applies to all prayer especially the great prayer, the Mass. Christ reminds us that God knows what is in our hearts and our minds even before we speak them. The purpose of praying is not the words but in centering ourselves to and with God. I often tell people that taking time alone with God and talking to him as though He were sitting opposite them is a calming and centering exercise and it brings us closer to God.
By taking the time to actually focus on what we are saying and to speak the words that come from our inner being we enter into a reverent communication with Almighty God.
Jesus then goes on to teach us words that we should use when we pray which we now know as THE OUR FATHER.
"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
In this simple prayer we sum up all our beliefs and our wishes. Christ reminds us again, in no uncertain terms, on what our request to God depends when he said; For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Therefore, when we pray the Our Father, we are acknowledging many of our beliefs as Christians because we concede:
1. God is our Father, in other words, like our paternal father whose seed brought us into being, God brought us and all things into being by willing them into existence.
2. We affirm that the name of Almighty God is Holy and needs to be revered above all persons and things.
3.. We are acknowledging that the kingdom of heaven is something to come and is not to be found in this mortal world.
4. We acknowledge that we agree that God’s will must be done in all things, not only in heaven but here on earth. God’s will, not our own desire and will. This is often very difficult for us to embrace and it is also one way that we so often find ourselves in troubling by insisting on getting our own way in spite of all other things.
5. We next go on to ask God to provide us with our daily necessities of life. The key in this part of the prayer is ‘DAILY NECESSITIES’. when we ask to win the lottery or get a flat screen TV or new car God may not consider them to be necessary for our existence and if fact, God may see that in getting them we would be endangering our eternal salvation.
6. In asking God to forgive us our debts we are asking Him for forgiveness of the things we might have done that separated us from Him and put us in debt to God. What we need to remember is that we also need to be willing to forgive those who have hurt us. That is a very important part of this prayer. If we are unwilling to forgive others how can we expect God to forgive us. Christ even reiterates this when He cautions “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
7. Finally, we then plead with God to not put us in a position of being tempted by the guiles of Satan, but to deliver us from all evils, those imposed upon us by others and those which come out of our own selfishness, greed, anger, prejudices and stubbornness.

When Christ repeated the caution a second time about forgiving others He did so, I am sure, because He knew how difficult it was going to be for us mortals. One of the most difficult things for people is to admit they are wrong. It is even more difficult to go to someone you have done wrong to and ask for their forgiveness and even more difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you. Many people just cannot admit to another they are wrong. We see this daily on the news and TV. Even when faced with overwhelming evidence that a decision one made was wrong, some people cannot admit it.

During this time of preparation for the Paschal Banquet, we might want to reflect on how we pray and whether or not we are doing all that we can to reach out to those we might have wronged and seek their forgiveness and even more especially have we forgiven those that have hurt us and extended to them the love of Christ.
I have suggested this meditation for the second week of Lent because it may require some time for us to digest. Lent is a time of cleansing and purification as we evaluate ourselves in preparation to follow Christ along the Via Dolorosa on the way to Calvary and on to His glorious Resurrection on Easter morning which provided us the promise of Eternal Life with God and all the heavenly elect. Amen

One God, Many Gifts, One Spirit

One God, Many Gifts, One Spirit
A Reflection for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
Based on Readings from Romans 12:5-16, Matthew 8:1-13
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Holliston MA
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

The first reading from for this Sunday, Romans 12:5-16, is one of the most powerful readings found in Holy Scripture, so much so that I do not want to break it apart into pieces but begin with the entire passage and then comment on what I believe it says to us and how we might react to it.
Each of us has one body with many parts, and the parts do not all have the same purpose. So it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically, rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with every one.Within this passage are the directions for living a truly Christian life, of being truly Christ Like. The first part sentence states that, just as the human body has many divergent parts each that has a unique function within the whole, so to does the Mystical Body of Christ, what we call THE CHURCH, have different parts that make up the entire One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We all belong to each other and therefore need to stop the infighting between each other. We know that when one part of our body is not functioning properly, the entire body suffers. So it is within the church. Throughout history we have seen the church split apart over matters that have absolutely nothing to do with the teachings of Christ but with man made regulations that usually had to do with gaining control, power and wealth. This must come to an end.
God, in His wisdom, grants unto every person special gifts. Who are we, mere mortals, to criticize someone for the way they pray or offer honor and praise to God? Isn’t there only one God?
The passage also goes on to tell us not to pretend to love someone, but to really love them with genuine affection. It clearly states that Hate is wrong. We are told to work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically, be generous, to bless those who persecute you and most importantly, work in harmony with each other.
The last sentence, I believe speaks volumes especially to our politicians and the leaders of all church denomination, especially in light of recent happenings. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with every one.
Do things so that everyone can see you are honorable. That sentence, to me, would mean no closed door negotiations between special interests and government leaders passing legislation that affects everyone. To me it means not keeping the misdeeds of individual’s secret and trying to cover them up. It means corporations need to be open and honest with consumers.
The last sentence in today’s world is even more meaningful, . Do all that you can to live in peace with every one.We are being told to do everything possible to live in peace with everyone, not just a select few, but everyone. Living in peace does not mean attempting to force our will on others. Living in peace does not mean using bombs and guns to enforce our way of living on different cultures. Living in peace does not mean sacrificing more and more lives for the sake of having control of a country that is rich in oil resources. Living in peace means not sacrificing the future of our country by having it’s youth killed in a land that has been divided among ethnic groups for thousands of years. The Billions of dollars being spent and the many more billions that would have to be spent are depriving citizens of services that are needed here in this country for health care, decent housing for the poor, guaranteed education for every child, proper affordable medical and prescription medicines for seniors with fixed incomes.
This weeks reading is a challenge to every individual who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to all those who worship the God of Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Isaiah, Jacob and David. It is challenging us to rethink the way we have been living and make the changes necessary to be more God like in our lives.
To be and live a true Christian life is not easy in this world today. It requires a lot of faith in God and strength to fight against the popular “more is better, money and power are all that counts, my need supersede to concerns of others” thinking of so many people today.
May Almighty God open the hearts, minds and souls of all of us to live our lives according to the teachings of Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the other great people who preached non-violence and brotherhood. AMEN