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     When Paul began his life as a Christian, he knew it was going to be a difficult journey. Having spent part of his life as a persecutor of Christians, he knew what such people were capable of. Even faced with embracing the cross and persecution by those who were once his friends, there was no turning back for St. Paul. He met the Lord, who gave him his cross and who promised him glory in heaven. From this time on, it seems that Paul’s motto was clear: ‘No matter what happens, keep your head up. Do not be ashamed of Christ and his cross.” Paul confidence came from the fact that as he grew in Christ, he died a little more to himself.

      Paul expresses this confidence in one of the most hopeful passages of all his writings. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies.” (2Cor 4:8-10)

     It is through our wounds that we are united to Christ and that we can make Christ known to others. It is only by undergoing the trials of the cross that we can experience the joy of the resurrection. We do not have to go and seek out persecutors. If we live as Christ lived,  and love as Christ loved, we will have to suffer, but we know that because Christ is in us and we are in him, we will conquer, because Christ has already conquered.

    We often have a fear of being seen as different from others and so we desire to just go with the flow. But Paul’s heart tells us not to be afraid to be bold in living out our faith. Paul passes on the love of Christ crucified by serving all people, even our enemies, in love. May we have the courage to do the same.

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

A Blessed Feast of St. Dominic to all today, especially the Friars at St. Gertrude in Madeira and the men who received their habit as they prepare to enter the novitiate!

Contemplate the Truth, and then pass on the fruits of that contemplation to others!

     There are some people who believe that God punishes people when they do wrong. God is a hersh judge who is quick to influct pain and suffering whenever he is slighted. However, those who accept this image of God cannot be Christian. Jesus clearly portray the Father as just, but also merciful and gentle to those who repent. St. Paul clearly sees God the Father in the same way.

    Paul writes to the Galatians that the source of man’s punishment is man himself. ” Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh; but he who sows to the Spirit will reap from the Spirit eternal life.” (Gal 6:7-8)

     Paul words are those which our own parents have passed on to us. You sow what you reap. You may not suffer the consequences quickly, but in the end, those who mock or reject God bring about their own demise. The same is true for goodness. The good we do may not be noticed at first glance, but our constancy in doing good will not go without its reward.

     Paul’s hope is that the corruption brought about by our sinfulness  may lead us to conversion, and that goodness brought about by love may lead to greater holiness. Paul’s mesage for us is clear. God is not some arbitrary Judge. our lives and our actions stand as a living witness as to whether we are in Christ or if we reject Christ. God’s judgment is simply a recognition of how we have lived our life. For that reason, let us pray everyday that we possess the clarity of vision so that we can see whether we are sowing good seeds that lead to everlasting life, or sowing the weeds that will lead to the everlasting fire.

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

Also, happy Birthday to my classmate, Fr. Bernard Weldishofer, pastor of St. Francis de Sales in Lebanon, who is 43 today!

     What is the meaning of freedom? It is a word that is used often today. As Americans, there are many freedoms that we possess, but for some, freedom means the right to do whatever one wants, to whoever one wants, whenever one wants. People with common sense realize that this is not freedom, but license, and it is not a good thing.

     The freedom that St. Paul preaches is something quite different. Paul writes to the Galatians: “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal 5:13-14)

     By Christ’s death on the cross, Paul realizes that God’s grace has restored us to freedom to choose the good, the right, the true and the beautiful. Freedom is not given to us for our self-satisfaction alone, but for the glory of God and the building up of one another. To give ourselves over to bodily pleasures and selfishness is to give ourselves back into slavery. We surrender our freedom to something less than we are! But if we give our minds, hearts, bodies and souls over to Christ, we become truly free. There will be pleasures and joys as well as sorrow and tears. When these are united to Christ the pleasures and joys become purer and the sorrows are lightened.

    St. Paul knows from his own life that the greatest temptations we face come from a focus on excessive bodily pleasures. They can consume us and distort our lives. When we allow these things to rule our lives, we sell ourselves for very little and reap even less because in the end, the love of God will be drained from our souls. It is clear to St. Paul that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to be free from sin so that we have the freedom for doing good and glorifying God. Christ has given us this freedom. May we never forget where it has come from, and the cost that Jesus Christ paid for it, his own life.

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

     We human beings like to be in control of things. We want things to happen according to our plans in the ways that we expect. If we can control everything, we think we can have a pretty good idea of how things will turn out.  Before his conversion, it is clear that St. Paul was just like the rest of us, a control freak. He did not like to be suprised. He always wanted to control the outcome.

      After his conversion, Paul learns something different from his new teachers, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, teaches St. Paul that our desire to control everything can in fact contradict the will of God. If we want to do God’s will, we need to allow God to control things. In fact, what is needed is usually the humble recognition that we never had any real control in the first place, it has always belonged to God.

     Paul writes so eloquently in 2Cor 5:7, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith is not about taking a step into the darkness, but rather it is taking a step into the light of Christ. Seeing with the eyes of faith allows us to see God’s plan as it mysteriously unfolds in our daily life. At first, it is frightening to walk by faith, because we put our lives in God’s hands. But really, it is assuring that we walk by faith because God places us in the real world, not the world of our own creation and illusion. We can see joys and sorrows in places where we would have never looked before. Our stepping into faith helps us to realize just how dark the world is without Christ, and how bright the world becomes when the light of Christ’s truth illumines it.

     Paul is known by many titles: preacher, missionary, pastor. One you may not be aware of is that Paul is also a fundraiser! As he traveled to the different cities of Asia Minor and Greece, he took up a collection to be sent back to Jerusalem. When he was among the people, he did not rely on them for sustenance, but instead plied his trade as a tent maker. The collection from these cities was to be an act of charity to the Church in Jerusalem, to show that not only do all the Churches share in the communion of persons in the Holy Trinity, but also a physical communion to help to provide for the material needs of the Christians in need.

     In asking for help from the Corinthians, Paul writes: “The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Each must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.” (2Cor 9:6-8) 

     God is always generous with his people and he asks us to practice generosity as well. One reason is that it helps us remember that everything is a gift from God and it is to be shared as best as we can. Another reason is that it establishes a deeper communion in faith. In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, some parishes have adopted mission parishes either in the United States or another country and send supplies and money and prayers. Not all of us can be missionaries, or work with the poor, or even run a radio station, but as St. Paul teaches us, we can be cheerful because our prayers and material gifts unite us with those who do those things, and through our gifts we share in their mission, which is also the mission of Jesus Christ.

     There are times when we look at our lives and think that the deck has been stacked against us. We are facing a deadline or what seems an impossible situation and sometimes we think our best choice is just to give up or give in. The mountain is just too high. There is no one who is helping us. St. Paul faced many of these situations and while it was clear that many times he did not know how he was going to succeed, he went ahead. He lets the Church of Philippi in on his secret: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (4:13)

     This is a strong act of faith on his part that we can learn from. Our power does not come from physical strength or our wits or our knowledge. These things can be easily overcome from something like fear. If we rely only on ourselves, we will fail in the end. Paul relies on Jesus Christ. He knows that if Christ sends him to do something, he will do it. God makes the impossible possible. He removes our fear and calms us when we are faced with serious situations.

     People often talk about their strength coming from within, but Paul sees that we can only grow if we realize that this interior strength is actually the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, giving us courage and hope. If we are faced with serious or difficult situations today, let us take St. Paul’s words to heart. We will not be able to control what happens, but we know that we will  come through it if we rely on the Lord, who gives us courage, wisdom and hope.

     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.

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

     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.