Solomon Asked for Wisdom - So Should We!

In his homily this past Sunday, our pastor, Father Wilson, illustrated how we can all experience the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth through the practice of our Faith. But he went on to say that it requires more than just routine attendance at Mass and simply going through the motions of receiving Holy Communion. Father Wilson warned that those of us who simply go through the motions each week at Mass should not be surprised when our lives are unaffected by this so called practice of our Faith.

In the gospel reading this past Sunday (July 24th), Jesus explains that “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” The point Jesus makes in this parable is that the things found, i.e., the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price, were being earnestly searched for with great effort. Picture one man digging up a field in search of a treasure, the other toiling and searching through oysters for that one great pearl. And so in the practice of our Faith we must put forth effort to seek the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Truth, who is Jesus. Do we earnestly seek the Truth? How much effort do we expend seeking and understand His Truth? Do we pray for more faith? Jesus is the Truth! He is the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)! If we don’t participate in Mass and truly believe that Jesus is really present under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, we gain NOTHING from it (John 6:48-58)! NOTHING! This is the reason so many Catholics have left the Church. It is also the reason why Mass attendance has declined. It is the reason many Catholics will say, ‘I get nothing out of it!’ Multitudes should be crashing the doors to go to Mass if there was a true belief in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist!

I strayed from the practice of my Catholic Faith for a lengthy period of time in my life. So for years I missed out on so much grace! Without verbalizing it, I too was among those Catholics who doubted Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. This had to be the case; otherwise I would have put Jesus first in my life and greatly anticipated each and every reception of his very body, blood, soul, and divinity in Holy Communion! We Catholics should long to go to Mass and be healed and nourished through the grace of the sacraments. For me it was a lack of knowing the truth. It was my neglect in seeking the truth. I think that is the case for most Catholics.

As Father Wilson said in his homily, and continues to incorporate into many of his homilies, ‘there is no greater gift we can receive on earth; there is nothing more important in our lives than strengthening our relationship with Christ in the Eucharist and receiving his grace through the sacraments; these are the ways to true and lasting joy!’

My prayer is that Catholics with a lack of knowledge or doubts about their Faith will pray for understanding; will seek the truth through the Magisterial teachings of the Church; and worthily receive Jesus in the Eucharist after returning Home through the healing portal of the sacrament of Reconciliation!

A Wealth of Information!

I recently attended a Catholic Men's Conference at which the Knights of Columbus were present and distributing some very informative, well written, and easy to read booklets from the Knights of Columbus Catholic Information Service. The booklets I have read are: The Gift of Woman, The Family in the Modern World, and Becoming a Man of God.

The great thing is that these booklets are available online as downloadable audio files or pdf files. You may also order hard copies of the booklets for only a $1.00 each, and at reduced rates for bulk orders.

The booklets cover a wide variety of topics on matters pertaining to Catholic faith and life. You can access this great resource at the following link - http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/publications/cis/podcasts/veritas/index.html

Find the Answers

Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, "There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church."

The optimum word here is perceive! Where have these perceptions come from?

In the spirit of Christian love, please take the time to examine what the Catholic Church truly believes and teaches about such topics as Mary and the Saints, Salvation, Scripture and Tradition and more.

Scroll to the bottom of this page and allow the Holy Spirit be your guide as you begin to explore these topics.

Lenten Parish Mission

Click on the title of this post and you will be able to hear Father William Casey, C.P.M., in his Lenten Parish Mission presentation seen on EWTN this month, present the truth about the Catholic Church as it undergoes an onslaught of attacks brought on by Satan's longstanding desire to destroy it!

Remember, the Church has come under attack many times during its past 2000 year history, but still remains and will remain until the end of the age!

Why?

Because Jesus said these words to Peter, "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)

Fr. Casey's message is timely for all Catholics, especially for those who have drifted away! So please take a few minutes to seek the truth!

Look, Here is the Messiah! No, There He Is!

Whenever I think of how much Christianity has divided since the time of the Great Schism in the year 1054 to the present time, in which there are now literally thousands of Christian denominations and movements throughout the world, I think of the following words Jesus spoke to the apostles in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:23-28 NAB)

23 If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
25 Behold, I have told it to you beforehand.
26 So if they say to you, 'He is in the desert,' do not go out there; if they say, 'He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27 For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

I think of these words also whenever well-meaning Christians, who I'm sure were genuinely concerned about my salvation, have said things to me like, 'why are you still remaining in the Catholic Church, it's a cult based on pagan practices,' or there is no biblical basis concerning the practices and doctrine of the Catholic Church, I immediately focus on the Jesus' words, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is! do not believe it.'

Christ warned in verse 24 of this passage, that false prophets and false messiahs would be able to deceive even the elect. You have to ask yourself the question, how is one so easily deceived? The answer is a lack of genuine knowledge about our faith!

I am not being judgmental here because I have certainly been guilty for many years of not taking the time and putting the effort into learning about my Catholic faith, but how many of us spend tremendous amounts of time to engage in meaningless activities, yet can never find the time or the energy to learn about our faith.

Please! Take the time to learn about your faith and put it into practice. It's been Christ's gift to us for the past 2000 years! When you sincerely seek the truth about it, you'll find it to be a beautiful source of spiritual strength and nourishment that is intended to sustain us until our Savior's return!

Peace!