All Good Comes From God, 4th Sunday of Easter Reflection

All Good Comes From God
Fourth Sunday After Easter Reflection by Reverend Robert Johnnene OFA, Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
The message found in all the readings for the fourth Sunday in Lent say one thing, God’s unending love for His children. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be Glad. As the Introit for this Sunday proclaims “Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia, for the Lord hath done wonderful things, alleluia; He hath revealed His justice in the sight of the Gentiles, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 97. 1)” “His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory. V.: Glory be to the Father, Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia” “O God, who makes the faithful of one mind and will: grant to Your people the love that you command without limit and infinitely and the desire to live according to Your will” that amid the changes of the world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found, in You of Father. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN
Today’s Lesson is from the Epistle of Blessed James the Apostle Chapter 1. verses 17-21 which has the primary message of “Receiving with meekness the word of truth which is able to save our souls” Almighty God, as James reminds us in the Epistle is the light of truth that opens the door and wipes away the darkness. He reminds us that all things and every perfect gift is from heaven above, coming from the Father. God begot us by the word of truth that we might be some part in His nature. We are called to live our lives in accordance with the way Christ, the beloved son of the Father, lived His life. We should not turn anyone away for any reason, just as Christ did not turn anyone away but welcomed all. Christ drove the evil forces from within people who came to Him filled with the spirit of evil. The Epistle further tells us “Let every man be swift to hear but slow to speak and slow to anger. The anger of man works not in accord with the justice of God. Therefore, with meekness receive the word, which is able to save your souls”.
Over and over the teachings of the Apostles as written in Holy Scripture proclaim the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Over and over we are told of the infinite mercy and love of God for all His children. We are reminded again and again that all good comes from God. The sad part is that we mere humans often take God’s good gifts and turn them into something bad.
The Gospel reading from John chapter 16, verses 5 through 14 carry the message that “Our Lord will send from heaven to His Church the Spirit of truth. The Holy Ghost will unite all hearts, will teach them all the truth.”. Here we have the promise from Christ that even though He would be returning to the Father, “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will teach the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Christ has told us that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we will learn the truth concerning sin and righteousness. Sin is not trusting and believing in God. We are told that only the ruler of this world, the only true ruler, Almighty God makes all judgments, not mere mortal men. In other words and human who claims to make judgments against someone, saying they are condemned to hell, is speaking out of turn and therefore is sinning. Our God is merciful and more than willing to forgive anyone for their transgressions if they but ask Him.
God’s goodness, love, mercy and compassion is unlimited, unconditional and infinite for all who come to Him. He trusts us to do the right thing; He has instructed us on how to live through the example set by Christ and in Christ’s teachings. The mercy, love, and compassion of Almighty God is unending and extends to all who believe in Almighty God The Father, The Son Jesus Christ our redeemer and savior, and The Holy Spirit the enlightener. To believe is to trust totally in Him, to honor Him with prayer, good works of charity, compassion, and forgiveness of the wrongs others commit against us, and love toward all of God’s children regardless of their race or sexual orientation. We especially have to extend love and forgiveness to all those who hurt us by their actions and words and we need to pray for them. Christ forgave those who crucified Him as he hung from the cross with these words; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. Again, by His example Christ taught us what we need to do.
God is good! All things created by God are good! We have the goodness of God instilled within us if we but seek to find it and then live it. We become living, breathing outward sings of Christ, True Christians, by seek the good in others and living in a way that displays our faith in word, deed and action to all we encounter.
By attempting to live in this manner, we become the fulfillment of Christ here on earth and a disciple in this age proclaiming clearly to all this message , “ our hearts are fixed where true joys are to be found, in You Father” found in the Introit and opening prayer of today’s liturgy.
AMEN

Feast Day Reflection

Reflection for the Feast of Annunciation
And
The Founding of the Franciscans of the Annunciation
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

“Hail Mary! Full of grace” “The Lord is with you”, how wonderful it would be to have that affirmation given to us. Wouldn’t it be great if an angel of the Lord came down and announced to us the greeting that was given to the Our Blessed Mother Mary, the mother of Christ.
There is no question that it would be wonderful to hear but we have to ask ourselves, are we worthy of hearing that message? Have we actually lived by the teachings of Almighty God as found in the commandments and especially in the teachings of Christ?
Do we love God above all things? Do we love our neighbor as we love ourselves and see in every human being, Jesus Christ? Do we practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and the Beatitudes?
The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary as she was engaged in her daily practice of prayer. Mary lived fully in accordance with the Jewish faith and was prayerful and totally committed to Almighty God and living according to the teachings and beliefs of her Jewish faith.
When the angel made His announcement to Mary her first reaction was “How can this be?”
With these words, Here I am Lord, May it be done to me according to your word! She freely accepted God’s will for her even though she knew that, as an unmarried woman found with child she could be stoned to death. Do we have that kind of faith and trust in accepting God’s will for us?
In order to have that kind of faith we have to give ourselves over completely to God’s will for us and accept it. If God willed that we be born with an orientation toward a member of the same sex, we have to accept that and live our lives in accordance with that and not use it as an excuse to separate ourselves from God because others say that it is our choice and not God’s plan and therefore we are sinners.
Do we listen when God does choose to speak to us in our hearts or do we pass it off as an illusion or a dream and not discern what God is trying to tell us?
It was not until I stopped demanding to always do things my way and to begin to ask God what it was he wanted from me that I began to find true peace within my self and in my heart and mind.
A year ago the original Franciscan order to which I had become incardinated was disbanded over some dissention and I wondered what the reason was and where I might go to follow what I felt sure was a mission God wanted me to do. As it turned out one of the Bishops who had been a member of the original order also wondered and somehow a prayer I wrote during this time of discernment led him to feel that it was where God wanted us and he founded the Franciscans of the Annunciation of the Infinite Love of God. The Infinite love of God is the prime message of the Annunciation to Our Blessed Mother Mary. God so loved the world that He choose to send His only begotten son to earth in human form to teach us the truth. The truth is that God always loves us, even when we try to ignore Him and go our own way. God does not give up on us. All He demands of us is that we acknowledge Him and attempt, with the help of His Divine Mercy and the Holy Spirit, to live our lives in a manner that is not harmful to ourselves or others.
Since only God is perfect, He knows that our human condition is far from perfect. He respects and loves us as we struggle with the difficulties of daily life.
God choose Mary to be the mother of His only begotten son because she lived her life in total accordance with His laws as they had been handed down through Jewish tradition and loved and worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jesus told us that He came to earth on behalf of His Father to bring a new covenant.
Mary accepted God’s will even though she new that in doing so she could be stoned to death and as Jesus began His ministry Mary followed Jesus even to the wrenching pain of watching her son suffer and die a horrible death nailed to a wooden cross.
She was there when he arose and when the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. She was the First and most loyal of all the disciples. She truly showed us the way to follow Christ.
During these final two weeks of Lent, let us make a concerted effort to change ourselves into dedicated and true followers of Christ and devoted children of Almighty God by totally giving our lives over to the will of God and accepting His will for us just as Mary did. Let us be more tolerant of the diversity of God’s creation especially in our neighbors. Let us practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and live the Beatitudes each and every day by being more mindful of the need of sufferings of others and reach out to them as the Good Samaritan did for the man beaten on the side of the road.
By living this way we may not become true saints but it is just possible we will, one day, hear the voice of an angel speaking to us saying “God loves you for being His good and faithful servant and is welcoming you home to His loving arms.
AMEN

A Reflection on Trusing in God

My Hope Is In God My Savior
A message of Faith, Hope Trust and Love
A reflection for Quinquagesima Sunday
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFa
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry
1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 18:31-43, Psalms 30, 76, 99, 118

How appropriate it is that the Sunday following the day set aside to hone lovers and love the message we hear from the readings is one of affirmation and an example of how trusting and loving God can bring untold peace and miracles. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we hear Paul explain that without love all things are useless. “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In his letter he also tells us what true love is and what it is not. We are told that a person who is in love is patient, kind, considerate, does not give in the envy or become boastful, is never rude or self-seeking and never gives in to anger and hatred or hold grudges against those who they perceive have done them wrong. In order to comply with all this we face an awesome task, especially in a world that praises wealth, power and fame. Paul goes on to tell su that prophecies and speaking in tongues and even those who claim to have great knowledge will all cease when the promised kingdom of God arrives.
The Introit Psalm and the Gospel back up the affirmation of Paul’s message with proof that by putting all our trust and faith in God and Loving God with our entire being miracles can and do happen. When we call upon the Lord He hears us and He always answers us even if the answer is not what we were seeking but it is the answer that is best for us according to God. This is where the trust has to be, that God’s will is what is best. This also is another difficult thing for us, especially for those who are used to getting their own way, to accept. “O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30: 2-5)
In this same passage we are reminded that God’s anger at us because we have failed to live according to His desires, lasts only but a brief moment for His love for us far outweighs His anger. This was the lesson of the story of the Prodigal Son. The father will always forgive. With complete trust and faith in God our sadness and tears will be wiped away just as the rainbow follows the storm.
The Gospel story is a perfect example of having faith and trust even when all those around you are trying to dissuade you and call you away from having faith in God and do not want to hear you talk about God. “He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" “What do you want me to do for you? Lord, I want to see, he replied. Jesus said to him, Receive your sight; your faith has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God” (Luke 18: 38-43). “Your Faith has healed you” said Christ. There is a lesson to be learned in those words also, Christ said “Your Faith” He did not say the faith of others. True Christ also told us “Where ever two or three are gathered in my name so too am I in their midst”
Every day I receive requests for prayers for peoples intentions, healing or a special request that a person has to make to God and I always offer up my prayers for that person. I believe that the person who has asked for the prayers needs to pray even harder than I and give themselves over to having complete trust and faith in God healing them just as the blind man did.
On Wednesday we begin the season of Lent and it is a wonderful time for us to take inventory of our relationship with Almighty God and how we live out our daily lives with trust, faith and most of all love of Almighty God. Over the last few weeks I have reflected on ways that we show our love and trust in God by our actions. Today’s readings tell us the things we cannot have in our lives if we truly love God. Anger, greed, jealousy, pride, envy, discrimination, gossip, and being self-serving have no place in our lives if we are to truly follow the path of Christ.
To live in this manner is extremely difficult in this modern world but then neither was it easy for Christ to endure the way of the Cross and Calvary in order for us to be able to gain the promise of everlasting life and forgiveness of our sins.
We have choices in almost every thing we do, we can choose to try to live a life in accord with the teachings of Christ or we can pick and choose those things that are comfortable for us to do and reject the ones that might cause us some difficulty. What we choose and what our rewards will be depends solely on us. We can travel the smooth and easy road or take the more difficult but shorter road to our eternal reward. The choice is ours. In order to be able to travel the more difficult road we need to put our trust and faith in God and to continually talk to God with the knowledge that with Him we have the best friend in the world and He will give us the means to overcome the difficulties if we truly want to serve Him faithfully.
Let us give ourselves over to Him completely with boundless confidence in Him, since God is our Father and loves us more than any other person. Let us pray;
Father, into your hands I commend my soul, for I so need to surrender myself unto you and trust in and have faith in you in all things. Let your will be done in me always and lead me in your ways so that I may serve you in all things. Almighty God, Grant unto me your gifts of forgiveness to all who have harmed me, compassion toward all those in need, acceptance of all your children, and mercy and charity toward all I encounter. I ask this in the name of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, my redeemer and savior who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit as one God now and forever. AMEN

A Valentine Reflection

Love Is Patient and Kind
A Reflection for Saint Valentines Day
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://gropups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud (1 Corinthians 13:4)
February 14th had been celebrated by the church for centuries as the day to honor the three Saint Valentine’s but in 1969 it was removed from the church official calendar but is extremely popular as a commercial holiday set aside to give special recognition to your loved ones. According to history St. Valentine was a priest in the Roman Empire who helped hide and save persecuted Christians during the reign of Claudius II, was thrown in jail and later beheaded on Feb. 14. There is supposed to be another St. Valentine who was the Catholic bishop of Terni and was also beheaded during the reign of Claudius II. According to some historians there was a third St. Valentine who secretly married couples when marriage was forbidden in Africa and was later beheaded. The one common factor for all the St. Valentines is that they lost their heads over love. Possibly that explains why so many men and women seem to loose their heads when they think they are in love.
There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age.)
These words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians sums up what love really is “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud” It is not the sexual or physical attraction that counts, but the deeper spiritual actions one puts forth toward others. Mother Teresa put it nicely when she would tell people “Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love.'' - Mother Teresa
Christ, himself, told us that love was the greatest commandment, Love of God and Love of your neighbor. Today the word love is far too often confused with sex and nothing could be further from the truth. When two people are deeply in love, yes sex is a means of sharing and expressing that love and in the case of heterosexual couples of creating a physical expression of their love in children. But for true love to blossom and bloom there has to be understanding, honesty, trust cooperation and devotion. Both parties have to be willing to give 100% of themselves to the other.
Galatians 5:22 reminds us that love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and therefore it is a special gift that comes from Almighty God “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”, (Galatians 5:22) and like all gifts from God it should not be taken lightly but appreciated and used in accordance with God’s intentions. Take special not of the gifts that follow love and its placement as the first gift.
On Saint Valentines day (even though the Roman church no longer celebrates it as a feast day) let us show our love for God’s children by doing more than sending a special greeting to a few friends and lovers, but put into actions that show all our love for God and for all God’s children by voicing our indignation for the actions of governments and individuals who promote hatred, bigotry, discrimination and violence. Let’s speak out in favor of funding for quality affordable health care for all, adequate affordable housing, affordable quality education for every child. “The Lord is waiting for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who seek his help”. (Isaiah 30:17-19)
“But love your enemies, do well to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (Luke 6:35) these words from Luke even advise us to love our enemies and one way to show that love is to pray for them. Pray that God will open their hearts to find solutions to the things that have caused the discord.
I close this reflection for Valentines Day with this prayer from 2 Thessalonians 2 : 16-17 “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” AMEN
May Almighty God’s love overflow within your hearts and out on to all those with whom you come in contact with.
Have a Blessed St. Valentines Day.