A
Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis
Stevenson
Fr.
Bob
A mission of the Franciscans of Divine Mercy. We are a welcoming and affirming faith community to all who feel disenfranchised, unwanted, and rejected by Faith Communities. We welcome all persons who believe Christ was the redeemer and savior. The mission pastor is Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Saturday, December 23, 2017
A Christmas Prayer
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Friday, December 08, 2017
Friday, December 01, 2017
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Christ the King homily
Reflection For The Feast Of Christ The King
November 26, 2017
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans
of Mercy
Psalm 23 reads as follows;
The LORD
is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He
leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies; you anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell
in the house of the LORD forever.
The words of this Psalm
acknowledge God as the loving God who watches over us and cares for us as a
good Shepherd cares for His flock. Since Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
was given dominion over all the earth by the Father we acknowledged Christ as
the heavenly King.
Christ himself declared
that He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and as such the
human embodiment of the Father.
A king, more precisely a
good king, is concerned about the safety and welfare of every one of his
subjects and so it is with Jesus Christ who told us how a good shepherd, which
is exactly what a king is supposed to be to his people, would go seeking a lost
sheep in order not to lose even one.
The kingdom that Christ
reigns over is not of this world, but is the everlasting kingdom to which we
are called after living in this material world. The kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom where peace and harmony and elation of being with the angels and saints
and most especially the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abounds.
As King, Christ has the
ultimate say on who will and will not be welcomed into this kingdom.
In the Gospel Of Matthew
25:31-46 we read, “When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the
throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the
goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave
me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I
was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me”.
This only strengthens the
concept that Christ is the power through which we gain eternal life in the
paradise that is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Christ gave us two simple
Commandments to live by as found in Matthew 22: 38-39 “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind,
soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love
yourself”, and in His Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) tells us
the way to treat our fellow human brothers and Sisters here on earth. Matthew 5:19 instructs us on how we gain
entrance to the Kingdom for which Christ is king; “Anyone
who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
In Matthew 25:34-43 Christ also reminds us of how we need to live in order to gain
eternal life with God and the heavenly elect; “I
was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink;
I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick,
and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me”. The group on the right asked God; “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or
thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and
take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison,
and come to you?” God
replied; “I tell you, whatever you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me.”
Next week we enter a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent.
Next week we enter a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent.
This is a time for us to
make an evaluation of how well we are living our daily lives to prepare
ourselves for the Kingdom of Christ, heaven.
Have we been mindful of the needs of others, are we caring and accepting
of all of God’s children, not just those we consider acceptable because they
conform to our way of thinking, but ALL?
Have we discriminated
against others because of Race, creed, marital condition, sexual orientation or
political party? Are we charitable toward those who are in need?
Christ gave us the example
of how we should lead our lives. He never rejected anyone who came to Him and
neither should we. In this time where
people are thinking of giving gifts to their family and friends let us
acknowledge the gifts God, our father, has given us. Let us use them to the
benefit of all God’s children, especially those who have not been as blessed as
we have been, and not hoard them for ourselves.
By doing this we can not
only show our love and respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords but we
will build up a treasures in heaven for ourselves so that we will be greeted
with “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” AMEN
Friday, November 24, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Thursday, November 02, 2017
Friday, October 27, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Friday, September 22, 2017
Sunday Sept. 24, 2017 Holily
Seek the Lord for True Peace
A Reflection for the Twenty Fifth Sunday or Ordinary Time
September 24th, 2017
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/Order Franciscans of Mercy
Divinemercyparish@msn.com
“Seek the Lord while he is
still to be found, call to him while he is still near” these
words taken from the first reading from the book of Isaiah 55:6-9 should be a wakeup
call for us even in this the twenty-first century.
The second reading for this Sunday from
Paul’s letter to the Philippians 1:20-27 has some wise words of advice for us
also when he tells people to; “Avoid
anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ”
This week’s gospel story is a very
familiar one of the landowner who hires laborers at various times of day
offering to pay them the same amount as those who were hired at the beginning
of the day. At the end of the day when the laborers were being paid many
complained that those hired at the last hour of the day received the same
amount as those hired in the morning as being unfair Jesus answered them with
this statement; “My friend, I am not
being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and
go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do
what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last
will be first, and the first, last.”
The lesson for us is quite simple, it does
not matter when we decide to live according to Christ’s teachings, nor does it
matter at what hour of our lives we call upon God to be with us, God will
accept us with love and forgiveness and welcome us into the heavenly kingdom.
The only requirement that is needed to
receive the same reward as those who have labored faithfully from the beginning
is desire to be a true follower of Christ and then for us to actually live
according to Christ’s teachings.
To live as Christ taught means to have
compassion for the sick, poor, aged and reach out to help them. We need to be
fair and honest in all our personal and business dealings. We must speak out against injustice and
demand equality for everyone.
Our world is facing many challenges and
has far too often rejected many of these principals. Wars are being waged unjustly and with tragic
results. Some nations seek to dominate
others and greed and materialism have replaced compassion and justice.
In the United States, our government is
proposing laws that will give tax breaks to the super rich while also
advocating cuts in programs that help the poor, elderly and sick have bare
minimum quality of life.
Seniors on fixed incomes buying power has
lost more than 50% in the last 10 years while the percentage or millionaires
have increased greatly.
The government has cut the food stamp
allocation claiming the cost of living has gone down while every food item in
the stores has gone up by more than 10%.
To be a true follower of Christ one must
always be aware of the needs of those less fortunate and make sure they are
cared for adequately.
A True follower of Christ would welcome
all who came to seek God with open arms and not reject them or drive them
away. A Person who loves God would love
all God’s children as God and Christ love.
No follower of Christ would cause any child harm or abuse them. The aged
and sick would be cared for and receive affordable quality medical and dental
care.
If we are to “Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is
still near” we need to heed Christ’s teachings and insure that we do all in
our power to make the adjustments in our society that are needed so that we, as
a nation, can live up to the motto “One
Nation, under God, with liberty and justice FOR ALL” and truly be a country
that lives and practices what our founding fathers envisioned when they wrote
these words in the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” and in the Constitution of our country; “We
the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America”
Let us all pray that those who claim to be
followers of Christ, and those who worship the one God, creator of all, will
reflect on the teachings of Christ,
Buddha, Mohammad, Gandhi, and all those who have advocated peace, brotherhood,
mercy, compassion and love over injustice, war, poverty and dissention. Let us “Seek the Lord while he is still to be
found, call to him while he is still near” AMEN
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Friday, July 14, 2017
Thursday, July 06, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
Homily for Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, The Body of Christ
A Reflection by
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/
Franciscans of Mercy
The feast of Corpus Christi has very special significance in the Church.
In honoring the Eucharist, especially following the celebrations of the
Ascension and the Trinity the universal church proclaims one of the basic
beliefs of the Catholic faith, that in the Eucharist or Holy Communion as some
refer to it, we are receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
The feast of Corpus Christi is one of the most exalted mysteries of the Catholic
faith, since for sublimity and incomprehensibility to mortal man; it yields
nothing to the allied mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation and is often one
that is challenged by other Christian denominations along with the other two
mysteries.
It is one of the mysteries that require you to have complete faith and
trust in God.
Recently Pope Francis had this to say about the Eucharist in his reflection
on the Seven Sacraments; “First,
the Eucharist affects the way we see others. In his life, Christ manifested his
love by being with people, and by sharing their desires and problems. So too
the Eucharist brings us together with others – young and old, poor and
affluent, neighbors and visitors. The Eucharist calls us to see all of them as
our brothers and sisters, and to see in them the face of Christ.
Second, in the Eucharist we experience the forgiveness of God and the call to forgive. We celebrate the Eucharist not because we are worthy, but because we recognize our need for God’s mercy, incarnate in Jesus Christ. In the Eucharist, we renew the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ for the remission of sins, and our hearts are enlarged to receive and show mercy.
Third, in the Eucharistic celebration, we are nourished as the Christian community by Christ’s Word and Life. It is from the Eucharist that the Church receives continually her identity and mission. It is in our celebration that Christ fills us with his grace, so that our lives may be consonant with our worship of God in the Liturgy. Let us live the Eucharist in a spirit of faith and prayer, with the certainty that the Lord will bring to fulfillment all that he has promised”. On Thursday, the feast of Corpus Christi in many countries especially Italy the Pope said this regarding the Eucharist; “To live the experience of faith means to let the Lord nourish us and to build our existence not on material goods, but on the reality, that does not perish: the gifts of God, his word and his body, The Body of Christ is the bread of the end times, capable of giving life, and eternal life, because the substance is this bread of love.”
Second, in the Eucharist we experience the forgiveness of God and the call to forgive. We celebrate the Eucharist not because we are worthy, but because we recognize our need for God’s mercy, incarnate in Jesus Christ. In the Eucharist, we renew the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ for the remission of sins, and our hearts are enlarged to receive and show mercy.
Third, in the Eucharistic celebration, we are nourished as the Christian community by Christ’s Word and Life. It is from the Eucharist that the Church receives continually her identity and mission. It is in our celebration that Christ fills us with his grace, so that our lives may be consonant with our worship of God in the Liturgy. Let us live the Eucharist in a spirit of faith and prayer, with the certainty that the Lord will bring to fulfillment all that he has promised”. On Thursday, the feast of Corpus Christi in many countries especially Italy the Pope said this regarding the Eucharist; “To live the experience of faith means to let the Lord nourish us and to build our existence not on material goods, but on the reality, that does not perish: the gifts of God, his word and his body, The Body of Christ is the bread of the end times, capable of giving life, and eternal life, because the substance is this bread of love.”
Because Holy Thursday is linked so closely with the final days of
Christ’s earthly life and therefore often with sadness it was very appropriate
that we celebrate the gift of that day to us of Christ’s body and blood on a
separate day to honor the Corpus Christi.
The Eucharist is often called “The
Bread of Life” because of the promise by Christ that; “He that
eats of My Flesh, and drinks of My Blood, lives in Me, and I in him” which
is found in John 6:54.
The words found in John 6 are a clear explanation of why we celebrate the
feast of Corpus Christi as a separate joyful feast and one that is affirming
and welcoming and clearly shows Almighty God’s infinite and everlasting love
for us.
In the Eucharist, we have been given Christ as a companion to us for as
long as we live and through partaking of this bread of life we receive the
strength to overcome the daily temptations that plague us. The Body of Christ
is a sustaining strength for us and therefore a life-giving source.
Paul’s letter to the Hebrews
9:11-15 proclaims the following; “the
blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through
the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do
our service to the living God. When we receive
the Eucharist, no matter if we receive it as just the bread or in the bread and
wine, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ which will nourish us and assist
us to reject temptations.
If only we all could have the kind of
love and devotion and belief young children have when they receive their First
Communion every time we receive the Eucharist.
I feel that as adults, we become
complacent and receive the Eucharist more out of habit rather than recognizing
what a wonderful gift God has given us in the Eucharist. If we approached the
table with more faith and devotion when we receive the Eucharist we might
receive and appreciate the gift Christ left us and be more open and willing to
live our lives as He instructed us. We
might become more concerned for the wellbeing of all the people of this world
and be more active in speaking up against injustice, poverty, war and genocide.
We might have to courage and strength to fight for fairness and equal rights
for all people regardless of their race, nationality, creed or sexual
orientation.
Prayer
O God, who in a
wonderful Sacrament has left unto us the memorial of Your Passion; grant, we
beseech You, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and
Blood as to experience continually, within ourselves, the fruit of Your
Redemption. O Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored
and loved, with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of
the world, and by all who receive you into their bodies and souls, even to the
end of time! O Sacrament most holy! O
Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine! We
ask this in the name of our redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who lives
and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world
without end. AMEN
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Friday, June 02, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Friday, May 12, 2017
Mother's Day Homily
A Tribute to Our Heavenly Mother and all Mothers
A reflection for Mother’s Day May 14, 2017
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus
Order Franciscans of Mercy
The Mother's Day holiday in
the United States, celebrates motherhood generally and the wonderful
contributions of all mothers and women to society.
It is the result of a
campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis who, following the death of her mother on May 9,
1905, devoted her life to establishing Mother's Day as a national, and later an
international, holiday.
Throughout all of history,
mothers have played one of the most important roles in society. There is an old
adage that “Behind every successful man
there is a woman” and this is an adage that holds true almost every time,
that woman is usually the man’s mother.
We know from scripture
that Jesus’ mother was often in his company and suffered with him because of
the rejection and ultimately the crucifixion of her beloved son. With His last
breath, Christ symbolically gave His mother to all of us with these words “Woman, behold, your son! Son, Behold, your
mother!”(John 19:25-27)
Mary was the catalyst for
the first recorded miracle of Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana. Mary and the
other women discovered that Christ has risen from the dead. It is Our Blessed
Mother that often is the bearer of messages to the world from Her son and
Almighty God.
Mary’s appearances at
Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Mejigore, and to Saint Catherine Laboure’ to whom
the Blessed Mother displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a
globe, wearing many rings of different colors, most of which shone rays of
light over the globe and around the margin of the frame appeared the words O
Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Just as Our Heavenly
Mother Mary had and still has an important place in the Christian life, so to
do all mothers have an important role in the future of society. The mother
nourishes the child from inception to adult hood and beyond. Mothers are the first educators, set the
moral guidelines and often teach the first prayers and instill a love and
devotion to God.
It was 30 years ago this
week, May 5th 1987, three days before Mother’s Day, that a beautiful
woman by the name of Elizabeth was called home to Almighty God.
She did not become famous,
never made headlines, if anything her life was very simple.
Born in Ireland in 1906
her early years were anything but wonderful. She lived in fear of the British
troops who roamed her country. When she
was only 5 years old, she watched in horror as her mother died in childbirth
while her father and uncle were arguing, drunk, in an adjoining room. Shortly
after that, her father left her with another uncle and aunt while he went off
to America in search of a better life. The Aunt, according to the stories told,
mistreated little Elizabeth to the point she ran away to another uncle who took
her in and lived with along with his young son Willie until 1913, when word
came for her to come to America. She remembers arriving at Ellis Island
frightened and amazed, as she gazed from the gangplank at the enormous glowing
statue of a woman holding a torch on the base of which was inscribed the words “Give me your tired and your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to be free”
In 1929, while working in
a drug store, a handsome man, Bob, who was working days as a welder and nights
as a singer in the Keith Vaudeville Circuit and studying law, spotted her.
They got married in
September 1930 but life was not to be a “Happy Ever After” of the
storybooks. Bob had a drinking problem
and it caused many arguments as it often does but Betty had faith and hung in
there.
Through all her life’s
problems, she never gave up her faith in Almighty God and had a deep devotion
to the Blessed Mother Mary. A devotion she passed on to her son, yours truly.
The life of Elizabeth is
just a regular life, it is a life that millions of woman happily do every day.
They are the woman who we celebrate on Mother’s Day.
My Mother and many other
mothers emulate the role Our Blessed Mother gave and they, through the years,
followed in Our Lady’s footsteps, giving of themselves for their children and
spouses.
I know that Elizabeth is
in the company of Our Blessed Mother and our Redeemer Jesus Christ and that Bob
my father is serenading Almighty God and all the heavenly elect with his
magnificent tenor voice while Elizabeth sits proudly and appreciatively as she
did every time he sang.
Since my Mom had two
miscarriages before I arrived, she could never understand how anyone could end
the gift of life and the opportunity to be a mother. Women are more compassionate, nurturing and
forgiving than most men. If women were given a greater role in the activities
of the church, we might not have had the problems we have been facing in recent
years.
If women were allowed to
be deacons or priests we probably would not have a shortage of priests and the
church would be more nurturing towards individuals seeking the love of God.
Mothers are less likely to
reject a child because of their sexual orientation.
In short, on this Mother’s
Day we need to celebrate ALL Women, Mothers, Grandmothers, mothers to be, woman
who may never be mothers, All Woman, for without woman, there would be no men.
Without Our Blessed Mother, Jesus would not
have been.
This weekend, let us give
woman the credit they deserve, let us try to do something special for all woman
in our life. Let us make this a celebration for all women for the contributions
that they have played in forming not only the Judea/Christian and other
Religious faiths but also History in general.
Happy Mother’s Day to all
mothers, your children are a gift; never let them feel unloved or unwanted. God
created them and gave them to you to cherish. Protect them as best as possible,
give them strong love and knowledge of how to love, forgive, and know and serve
God.
Love can conquer all
adversity as the story of Elizabeth and Bob can illustrate, their love was
stronger than any adversity they faced.
Just as God’s love is
stronger than any adversity any of us may face. AMEN
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Thursday, May 04, 2017
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