6th Ordinary Sunday 2019

5th Ordinary Sunday Feb. 10, 2019

4th Ordinary Sunday 2019

3rd Ordinary Sunday Jan 27 2019

2nd Ordinary Sunday 2019

Baptism of Our Lord 2019

Epiphany Feast 2019

Feast of Holy Family 12 30 2018

Our Savior Birth, Christmas

4TH Sunday of Advent 2018

4TH Sunday of Advent 2018

Gaudete Sunday Dec. 16, 2018

2nd Advent Sunday 2018

1st Advent Sunday 2018

Christ the King 2018

Sunday Nov. 18, 2018 reflection

32nd Ordinary Sunday Nov. 11 2018

31st Ordinary Sunday Nov. 4, 2018

30th Ordinary Sunday & All Saints Day 2018

Sunday October 21st, 2018 reflection

Sunday Oct 14, 2018

Sunday Oct 7, 2018 Homily

27th Ordinary Sunday Sept 30, 2018

Sunday Sept 23, 2018 REFLECTIONS show

24th Ordinary Sunday Sept. 16 2018

23rd Ordinary Sunday, Sept, 9 201`8

Homily for Sunday Sept. 2, 2018

Living According to Christ’s Word

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM for Sept. 2, 2018

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus www.missionstsergius.org 

Order Franciscans of Mercy www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

Throughout all of history we humans have treated Almighty God as though he were human, and therefore desired the same things as we human’s desire. Clergy dress in fancy clothes, maintain homes that the average person cannot afford, Engage in elaborate liturgies with all the trappings of royalty. Trillions have been spent to build beautiful palaces as monuments and places of worship to God although Christ did most of His preaching under the open skies of His Father‘s cathedral. What I believe God wants, is for us to live our lives with compassion for others, being mindful of the needs of others and not just our own needs and edification.

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us; This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”  The same could very well be said of many so-called Christians today from clergy, government leaders and the average citizen.

Certainly, we need a place to gather together safe from the elements of nature, a simple plain building with the necessary space for people to gather, where we can celebrate our love and honor Almighty God and partake in the Eucharistic Feast He has given us through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Simple cups just as I am certain Christ used at the Last Supper, would be proper instead of the golden bejeweled ones so popular in many churches. Yes, we need to be able to travel to visit His faithful who are unable to gather at the place of worship, but we do not need fancy cars only reliable and simple transportation that will get us from one place to another safely.

Somehow over the 15 years of my ministry has grown slowly, from nothing to reaching people every week all over the globe via our TV show and locally more than 200 that I serve with Mass and Eucharistic visitations without any of the things mentioned above.

I manage to get to visit those in need who are local, or I counsel them via the telephone or internet.

I have learned that God will provide what you need just as we are told in Matthew 6:25-27 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” If we were to take all the Gold, Jewels, let's not forget the Billions of actual cash that religious denominations have and use it to Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Welcome the stranger Clothe the naked, Visit the sick, Visit the prisoner, Bury the dead. (Matthew 25:31) what a difference it would make in this world.

If all people who proclaim they are followers of Christ, or Buddha, or Yahweh, or Muhammad would practice the basic teachings of their religions faithfully, all of which preach peace and brotherly love, and find a way to work together toward living in peace many of the worlds ills would cease to be.

The time has come for us to realize that we all worshiping the One God and creator of all that is, by whatever name HE/SHE is called, and that that God desires His children to care for each other as He cares for them.

If we could just achieve this we would have no more wars, people would not be dying of Famine and plague. Our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis, realized how little the riches of the world meant compared to the riches of eternity. He stripped off all His fancy clothes and donned the clothes of a peasant. He shared his simple loaf of bread with the poor on the streets. Mother Theresa realized this. Padre Pio and Martin De Pores did also, as did many others who tried to show the way and were rewarded with sainthood but their message seems to have been ignored.

The world has kept on with their elaborate shows of excess as a means of praising God. For some reason, we just can not seem to grasp God's wishes and keep allowing our human thinking and desires to color our way of living the Word of God. Looking at the Christ's list things that defile and comparing them against the way people, leaders of nations and Religious denominations are living today, Always seeking the upper hand and control in all things, seeking to gain profit at the expense of the less fortunate who barely are able to maintain a decent living, desiring material trappings rather than having compassion for those in need, using deceit, lies or religious domination to justify war, indulging in indiscriminate sexual behavior rather than committed loving relations, promoting sensuality and narcissism to sell unnecessary products to increase the bottom line and the profit margin for select individuals.

One has to ponder where we are headed and how God is looking upon all this and what He might feel is needed to open our eyes and hearts to begin to live according to His teachings as proclaimed by His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

I believe the time is now for us to take a good hard look at the way we are living and make a concerted effort to change our ways and begin to live the Gospels not just preach them. AMEN

Sunday Sept 2, 2018

Aug. 26, 2019 Show

Homily for Sunday Aug. 12, 2018

I Am the Bread of Life

Reflection for August 12, 2018, 19^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans of Mercy

Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:2-9; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51

www.missionstsergius.org    www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

On Wednesday, I will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of my ordination which gave me the very special gift to consecrate the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This honor from God, of being among the few chosen ones to carry on the instruction to the apostles “As often as you do this you do so in commemoration of me” is both humbling and awe-inspiring.

Because this gift means so much to me I have chosen today, to reflect on that reading from the scripture readings for Sunday, to enumerate on just how special the Eucharist is for sustaining us in our relationship with God and the need for us to avail ourselves of every opportunity to partake of it.

Christ, Himself has said; “I myself am the bread of life, no one who come to me shall ever be hungry” The bread of life is the Eucharist, given to us by Jesus Christ at the Last supper when Christ celebrated the Passover Feast with His apostles. Christ took the bread and with His eyes raised up to heaven blessed it saying, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness, we have this bread to offer which earth has given and human hands have made, it will become for us our bread of life. Blessed be God forever” then He took the cup of wine blessed it saying; “Blessed are Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness, we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and the work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink. Blessed be God forever”

Christ then tells us “This is my Body, This is my Blood, take and eat” If we accept that Christ came to give us a new covenant other than that which God had given to Moses. What better day, than the celebration of the Passing over of the angel of death and the covenant made at the time to Moses, to make know the new covenant.

Today’s gospel continues the story of Christ’s visit to the temple in Capernaum where Jesus had just told the apostles and the crowd “You should not be working for perishable food but for food that remains until life eternal, Food which the Son of Man will give you, it is on Him that God the Father has set His seal”. When asked “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered “This is the work of God, have faith in the one He has sent”.

Have faith, in other words believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God made man, who came among us to give us the way to gain eternal glory with God. “I myself am the bread of life, no one who come to me shall ever be hungry”. Jesus went on and tells the crowd that even though they have seen all He had done, they still did not believe. Unfortunately, today so many of us still question and have doubts. There are even some who say that This is all a myth conjured up by individuals to achieve power and wealth. Some even claim that there is no God at all. Then, as now, people murmur and say the same things as those recorded in today’s gospel, “HOW CAN HE CLAIM TO HAVE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN”. To even allow this thought to enter your mind let alone express it indicates that you do not believe that all things are possible with God.

“I am the Living Bread which comes down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51) This gift of the Eucharist which Jesus left us is perhaps the most precious gift we could ever have. It is sad that so many choose not to partake of the gift at every opportunity. Christ has promised us “Let me firmly assure you, whoever believes has eternal life”

By participating in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist we are given that extra boost to be able to ward off the forces of evil that surround us. The Eucharist is like a vitamin from God, which strengthens our defenses and brings us closer to God. Everyone who believes in God and Jesus Christ as the son of God should be able to partake of this God given gift to us.

To deny someone this gift, not because they have committed a grievous sin, but because they have been divorced from an individual who was abusive or a philanderer or because they were created by God with a sexual orientation toward a member of the same sex, is wrong. If anything, these individuals need that

extra boost to find God in their hearts and to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

It saddens me that I, at this time, am limited in how many I can share the bread of life with because of not having a permanent chapel or place of worship. But I a humbled to have been chosen as someone who is able to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord, THE BREAD OF LIFE.

I urge all to take advantage of this life-giving gift and to partake of it at every opportunity. It is a very precious gift and one that we should not waist. In these very chaotic times, we need to turn to Almighty God for strength to endure them and to partake of all the channels available to us.

Prayer alone is not enough; we need to live our faith by our actions and fully participate in all the opportunities to strengthen that faith. The Eucharist will give us the endurance to carry on until we are called home to the promise “Let me firmly assure you, whoever believes has eternal life”

AMEN