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     Do we ever consider all the thoughts that pass through our minds every day? Thoughts range from the mundane to the serious, good things and bad things, selfish things and generous things. St. Paul teaches the Philippians that their thoughts need to focus on the following:

     “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lowly, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have heard and received from me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil 4:5-9)

     Paul is issuing a serious challenge. While we carry out our daily activities, our thoughts need to be positive, hopeful and grateful. Truth, honor, purity and humility are the true pillars of human life. Truth means that we know ourselves and what we are about. Honor means that we possess an integrity about life through the principles we hold dear. Purity means that we try to see things without the bias of selfishness or lust. Humility means that we know that all that we are depends on the grace of God. If we build our lives and our actions on these principles, which find their roots in the love of God, we can find peace, and avoid the turmoil that causes us to doubt and have anxiety. If we think this way, the Holy Spirit will keep us close to Christ and help us to fulfill his plan for us.

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     The number one enemy of St. Paul is disunity. The separation of believers from St. Paul, the Church and one another was a source of anguish for him. He knows that unity is a difficult challenge as he tells the Church at Ephesus:

     “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to live a life worthy of your calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forebearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:1-3)

     Paul knows that the most annoying thing Christians have to deal with are the foibles and attitudes of other Christians. All are sinners, all are redeemed, but there are differences among them. It is clear for St. Paul that the only way to live the Christian faith is in community, whether it is a family, a parish church or simply a group of believers. We are purified by one another in seeking to live honestly, purely, prayerfully and realistically with each other. Some are more advanced than others. Some have different gifts than others. But they all serve the same Lord and the same Church. They have the same faith and the same hope. We are like pebbles placed in a mixer. We smooth each other out by learning to serve each other, be patient with things about the others among us and generally come to love one another more, inspite of our weaknesses. That is when, as St. Paul says, we live a life worthy of our calling, which is to be Christ for one another.

     One of the words used to describe the life of St. Paul is gratitude. In each of his letters, he begins by expressing gratitude to God for making him His minister, as well as to all who have received his message of Christ with an open heart. He knew that he was not alone in the world. Not only was the Spirit of Christ his constant companion, his thoughts and prayers were filled with the persons he met and served, and who, in turn, served him.

     He tells the Ephesians: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him , having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know the hope to which he has called you.” (Eph 1:16-18)

     Paul was grateful that Jesus Christ revealed himself to him, and even more grateful that Jesus used him to carry on this message which enlightens all people in the truth. We too pass on the message of Christ through the practice of gratitude. Paul knows that everything he has ever received is a gift, and he needed to give all away as a gift. The kindness of every person is a visible reminder of the kindness of God. We can pass this on through the use of two simple words: “Thank you.” Whether it is thanks for a gift or a particular service or a compliment, it is something that recognizes that what we received is valuable to us. By recognizing the gift, we recognize the giver, and in recognizing the giver, we in turn recognize Christ. That is what the heart of St. Paul teaches us.

     At the core of his being, Paul is a man filled with hope. It does not matter what crisis he faces, he never loses hope. He tells the Romans: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:3-5)

     Endurance, character and hope are all related. Endurance is a certain persistence is carrying out God’s will over the long haul, no matter what obstacles appear along the way. Character is the personal attitude formed by our daily committment to God’s will. It shapes all our thoughts and actions. Hope is the trust that God has created us for a special purpose on this earth and through our faith in Him, we trust that what God has started in us he is going to complete in us if we allow him to work.

     Hope is both a gift and a virtue. It has to be daily cultivated in our lives if we are not to be overwhelmed by the things we face in the world. When human beings face a certain situation that is going to require a sacrifice of some kind, they will inevitably ask themselves this question: “Is it worth it?” The question we may ask ourselves everyday is “Is loving and serving Jesus Christ worth it?” Paul’s answer is YES, it is worth it, because we are not in it alone. The Holy Spirit is always with us, even in our darkest hour, telling us: God will care for you. He will protect you. He will finish what he started in you , if you don’t lose hope.

Please pray for all priests and Seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     The world in which we live is one where no one has a whole lot of patience. When we want something, we believe we ought to be able to get it. The time to do things is not determined by others, but by us. We make this known if the line is too long or the service is not prompt. Waiting is simply a waste of time. Working according to someone else’s schedule is too limiting for us.

     St. Paul reminds us that if we cannot deal with the little inconveniences patiently, what is going to happen when we are faced with the big stuff? He reminds the Philippians about this when he writes: “Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemishes in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out like a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” (Phil 2:14-17)

     Paul’s message is that we get no where with the Lord if we act selfishly. Instead we need to act selflessly. When we become accustomed to small sacrifices or inconveniences, the large ones do not seem as daunting. When we recognize that we are not the center of the world, then we can put Christ in the center of the world. So, the next time we being to feel impatient in the grocery line or at the bank drive-thu, or even at Church, may we not grumble on the outisde OR the inside, but less us remember that by our patience, we can help to bring the peace of Christ into a very selfish and chaotic world.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     People set many goals themselves in life, but St. Paul makes it clear that there is only one goal we must attain. He writes in the First Letter to the Thessalonians: “For you know what instruction we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. For God has not called us for uncleaness, but holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1Thess 4:2-3a,7-8)

     St. Paul asks us to do something that may frighten us: to pray to God to make us holy. We have our own ideas of what holiness is all about, and they deal with the heroic actions and lives of the Saints. But human beings are not cookie-cutter copies of each other. While our common goal is holiness, God respects our uniqueness and therefore our holiness will be unique. There has already been a St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Church has already made Saints of the likes of Edith Stein and Vincent DePaul. Our holiness is going to be in the way God wants us to be holy.

     There are some points all of us share in common. We must lead an upright moral life and be an example for others through our practice of the virtues and overcoming our passions. We must pray daily and receive the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Penance as often as we can. Finally, we must listen carefully to God’s voice and pay attention to the needs of others, ready to sacrifice and offer all to God.

    Holiness does not happen at once, but by means of the Holy Spirit gradually reshaping our life, helping us to respond to God’s voice. It has been said that the greatest tragedy for a person is that he or she did not become a saint. Let us, like St. Paul, hear the voice of the Lord and always seek to do his will. If we can accomplish that, then our life will not be a tragedy, but a triumph.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     A common question asked by many people concerns the discernment of the signs that God is working in their lives. How do we know that what we are doing is the will of God? It is clear to St. Paul that God does not keep us guessing in this regard. He gives us indicators and little signs we can notice in ourselves to determine whether we are on the right track. Paul refers to these in the Letter to the Galatians as the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

     He writes that “the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23) If a person is trying to live in the presence of God, these fruits will be noticed and felt in one degree or another. They flow from the Holy Spirit and help us in our love of God and neighbor, as well as in the personal struggles that occur in our souls.

     The fruits of the Holy Spirit are more than just passing feelings. These become, as we draw closer to Christ, the ordinary ways in which we live our lives. They provide us with the confidence that lessens our fears of what others may think or say, since these fruits are indications that what we are doing is in fact pleasing to God. Along with these gifts comes the humble awareness that we must first depend on God to care for us and, at the same time, recognize that God depends on us to use these fruits as seeds to plant in the hearts of others..

     The experience of the fruits teaches us that our soul is not to be an arid desert, but a lush garden. It is the place where God comes to dwell with us. Let us ask the Lord that fruits we are able to bear through his grace and our faithfulness may contribute to the beauty of his world and the glory of his name.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred heart Radio.

     Many Americans live by this motto: “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” One of the activities that people frequently postpone is prayer. They place it at the end of their day or see themselves as too busy to pray at all. In the course of a hectic life, prayer may be the last thing we consider. St. Paul reminds all of us that prayer must be the first thing we do.

    He writes to the Corinthians in his Second Letter that “We trust you not to accept the grace of the Lord in vain. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of our salvation!”  (2Cor 6:1-2).

    Every day God bestows on us many different gifts such as wisdom, courage and perseverance, but if we do not use them, we waste them. God is not to be our last resort, but our starting point. Oftentimes, we turn to God only when all our other options have been exhausted. Paul reminds the Corinthians and us that if we turn to God first, not only will we find more opportunnities to do good, we will not have to accomplish them on our own. The whole world is soaked through with the anointing of the Holy Spirit through death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We live in a time of grace, a time of opportunity to face the evils of the world. We also have been given the power through Christ to overcome evil with good. Let us not waste the grace God offers us. Let us put it to good use for the sanctification of ourselves, the world and the glory and honor of God. 

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     It is said that a cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. St. Paul is definitely not a cynic. For him, the pearl of great price is the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Everything in his life that is valuable comes from Christ and knowing his love.

    St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Philippians, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” (Phil 3:8)

     Many people today speak in terms  of their “net worth” which is viewed in terms of money, stocks and property. None of that has any value in the eyes of Christ. When we die, we will come before the Lord with empty hands. Our value comes not from wealth or celebrity, but from the fact that Christ died for our sins on the cross. When we begin to realize that our true and lasting wealth is Jesus Christ, we can invest more of our time in serving him and serving others. In that case, we will know the value of everything and we won’t be afraid to pay the price, which is the surrender of our will to the will of God.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians, and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     When we go by a business and we see the sign “under new management,” our expectation is that things there are going to be different. There are new employees, fresh ideas and a new beginning. St. Paul recognizes that this is what happens to the Christian believer at baptism. He writes in Second Corinthians 5:16-17 “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view: even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.”

     Paul’s insight into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed the meaning  and destiny of the whole world. Through Original Sin, the human  race destined creation for death and destruction. Of itself, humanity cannnot offer salvation. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the whole cosmos is under new management. God has returned in Christ what man had given away in sin. God has not only given it back, he elevates men and women to the unheard of dignity of children of God. Death now marks the beginning of everlasting life. A world that previously offered only despair now offers hope. Through Christ, God has taken created things and sanctified and transformed them into instruments of salvation known as the Sacraments.

     The division brought about at the Tower of Babel has been destroyed by the Holy Spirit, who speaks the language of grace that every person is capable of hearing, if they are willing to listen to it. The new creations that we become make us forever young in the Spirit, because we know that whatever God has started in us, he will finish in us if we work with him. This is what we learn from the heart of St. Paul.

Plese pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.