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
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Saturday, December 30, 2017
Homily for Holy Family Feast
Feast
of Holy Family 2017
A Reflection by Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM
Mission
Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Mercy/Divine Mercy Parish
Reformed
Catholic Church
Hopkinton/Upton
MA
The Gospel from Luke
tell us the following; “Joseph and Mary,
in the company of Jesus, go as pilgrims to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover” (Lk 2:41-52).
In his homily for the
feast of The Holy Family Father Thomas Rosica, CSB of Toronto begins this way;
“In the afterglow of Christmas, the
Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. This weekend we are invited to
reflect on the gift and mystery of life and the blessing of family life in
particular.”
In Luke's Gospel
scene of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, we
encounter four individuals who embrace the new life of Jesus held in their
arms: the elderly and faithful Simeon, the old, wise prophetess Anna, and the
young couple, Mary and Joseph, who in faithful obedience offer their child to
the Lord. Simeon's beautiful prayer
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your
word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the
presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory
to your people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).
The whole scene of
the Presentation and the carefully chosen words of Simeon's prayer raise
several questions for us and I believe them to be these; how are we, as
followers of Christ’s teachings living those teachings? How do we treat those children of God that we
encounter daily on our life journeyespecially those often refered too as
“Street People” or “Beggers”?
Do we discriminate
against some of God’s children because we feel they do not conform to our way
of life, are a different color, race, nationality or sexual orientation than we
are?
The gospel of Matthew
2: which we hear today tells of St. Joseph’s complete trust in Almighty God and
is but another lesson for us to put our complete trust in God for all things.
The word made flesh,
the light of the world, was Jesus Christ and he made it quite clear as to how
we should live our lives in order to please the Father/Creator who sent him.
Pope Francis in his
homily on the feast of the Holy Family had this reminder to all of us; “How important it is for our families to journey together towards a single goal! We
know that we have a road to travel together; a road along which we encounter
difficulties but also enjoy moments of joy and consolation. And on this
pilgrimage of life we also share in moments of prayer”
In my life, my mother
and father taught me to always say “Good Night and God bless You” The Pope went
further reminding us that we need; “To
bless them, that is, to entrust them to the Lord, just like Elkanah and Anna,
Joseph and Mary, so that God can be their protection and support throughout the
day.”.
The Gospel from Like
2: verse 51 ends telling us; “At the end
of that pilgrimage, Jesus returned to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents.
Returning home, Jesus surely remained close to them, as a sign of his
complete affection and obedience.
Christ taught us who
our neighbor was when he told the parable of THE GOOD SAMARATON. Our neighbor is everyone on the planet
regardless of race, nationality, sexual orientation, married or single.
If we are to be true
followers of Christ we need to treat all people alike and treat them with
dignity and respect. We need to stop aggression and greed. We need to put an end to poverty and care for
the sick, aged, and poor. We need to
educate all the children of the world and proclaim and acknowledge God by what
ever name. Every person in this world is
a part of the Family of God.
The Holy Family is
the example of how families should be.
Mary was the Theotokos, (God bearer)
Joseph the descendant
of David and earthly foster father of the Christ child was a faithful follower
of the Jewish faith and a firm believer in the creator/God and accepted God’s
will even though he knew he might be scorned for having “sired” a child without
being married to Mary.
Joseph heeded the
messengers of God who came to him twice without question but with faith.
As the words in that
wonderful Sister Sledge song WE ARE FAMILY say; “We are family I got all my sisters and brothers with me. We are family …. Have faith in you and the
things you do. You won't go wrong.
On this feast of the
Holy Family let us realize that we, every man, woman and child on the face of
the earth is a part of the family of God.
Let us strive to live
together in harmony and peace. Let us
seek ways to end injustice, poverty, homelessness, addiction, war and begin to
care for one another as Christ cared for all He encountered.
AMEN
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
A Christmas Prayer
A
Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis
Stevenson
Fr.
Bob
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
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