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Don’t Forget Your Umbrella

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
October 2, 2023

Exodus 23: 20-23
Psalm 91
Matthew 18: 1-5, 10

Memorial of Our Guardian Angels

How many of us walk out into a storm and forget our umbrellas? As the rain or snow or high wind take over, we wonder how we forgot our protection when we planned to have our umbrella with us and had told others to remember to do the same. Then there is another view. Do you remember the movie, “Singin’ in the Rain,’” with Gene Kelly? He was in a rainstorm but only used his umbrella in his dance number and calm the romantic distraction of Debbie Reynolds.

How often do we get distracted and forget that God loves us so much that He has assigned to us our own protector, our own Guardian Angel. It may be difficult for us to think of angels other than as a mythical child’s story. ( I wonder what Archangels Gabriel, Raphael and Michael think about that. ) Interestingly, today’s Gospel tells us to accept our Guardian angels as do children. We must keep in mind that Jesus even talked about the angels when the devil was tempting Him with the so-called glory of this world. God as a loving Father, we as loving parents, can easily understand acting to protect our children. We are told that God gives us angels to serve as protectors and guides throughout our lives. Exodus tells us the Lord says, “I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.”

Every one of us knows what it is like to have a wonderful alter ego, most reliable best friend. We know that and appreciate that friend in our earthly lives. We have to remember our spiritual lives. That is where our Guardian Angel lives and helps us through the voice of our consciences and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to bridge our spiritual and earthly lives. How often have we been sad, full of rage or in a possible occasion of sin and we heard a voice pull us back and into the grace of God? Was that our Guardian Angel?

My Guardian Angel, be with me until I am in the arms of God and Mother Mary. Lord, let us honor our Guardian Angels. Give us contrite and humble hearts.

From Status-Seeking Sinner to Brilliant, Penitent Saint

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
August 28, 2023

1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5, 8b-10
Psalm 149
Matthew 23: 13-22

Memorial of St. Augustine

Today the Church remembers St. Augustine. He is one the most important theologians in the history of the Church. He has been recognized and called “the Doctor of Grace.” Why? Because although he had to cross the turbulent waters that separate us from God, Augustine’s heart came to be awakened to what Pope St. John XXIII called “the love and gratitude for God’s infinite goodness, beauty, holiness and purity.” How?

Augustine studied. No matter, even when he was living a life of status-seeking and social insecurity, a life addicted to sex, he constantly studied. He came to Aristotle, a pagan, full of logic. Augustine learned not only to believe in God but to know that God is real and had to exist. Though they lived six centuries apart, (Aristotle 384 – 322 BC; Augustine 345 – 430 AD), Aristotle “took him through” the notion of existence, itself, order in the universe and perfections in all of creation and therefore the need for an eternal being because nothing comes from nothing, therefore the need for an eternal being. Note that today’s Gospel calls us to look beyond to the metaphysical, i.e., not only to what we can easily see, but to the God who is the Creator, the eternal 1st cause.

It took Augustine 32 years of many prayers of his Mom, St. Monica, to change. Why? Because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about two men who had suddenly been converted on reading the life of St. Antony of Egypt, a marvelous Saint, (250 – 356) and he felt terribly ashamed of himself. “What are we doing?” he cried to his friend Alipius. “Unlearned people are taking Heaven by force, while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly that we keep rolling around in the mud of our sins!” This was the Spirit’s grace and his turn from sin to sanctity.

St. Augustine ultimately saw everything as a gift of God’s grace. He became such a penitent that he had the seven penitential psalms copied and hung in his room. He recited them during the ten days prior to his death. 

The Seven Penitential Psalms
During times when we wish to express repentance and especially during Lent, it is customary to pray the seven penitential psalms.  The penitential designation of these Psalms dates from the seventh century.  Prayerfully reciting these psalms will help us to recognize our sinfulness, express our sorrow and ask for God’s forgiveness.
One can hear the complete audio and reflection of the Psalms if one goes to the internet, inserts “7 penitential Psalms” and scrolls down to “The Seven Penitential Psalms and Songs.”     
  • Psalm 6   (O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation.)
  • Psalm 31, 32   (Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.)
  • Psalm 37,38   (O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation. )
  • Psalm 50, 51   (Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy)
  • Psalm 101, 102   (O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.)
  • Psalm 129, 130   (Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord.)
  • Psalm 142, 143   (Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth.)
These psalms are expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as ‘penitential psalms’ by St. Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century. The fiftieth Psalm (Miserere) was recited at the close of daily morning service in the primitive Church. Translations of the penitential psalms were undertaken by some of the greatest poets in Renaissance England, including Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Philip Sidney. Before the suppression of the minor orders and tonsure in 1972 by Paul VI, the seven penitential psalms were assigned to new clerics after having been tonsured.

 

We pray, Lord, for the grace of a contrite and humble heart.

Love Conquers All. Hold Fast to the Lord.

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
August 14, 2023

Deuteronomy 10: 12-22
Psalm 147
Matthew 17: 22-27

Memorial of St. Maximillian Kolbe

Love is a Many Splendored Thing, a romantic song and a good movie. It calls to mind some of the greatest unexpected love stories or reputations of all time. Would you think of John and Abigail Adams as having a great love story? They did. How about Romeo and Juliet, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Denzel and Plauletta Washington, married for 50 and 38 years respectively? Very romantic!

At the opposite, non-romantic end of the love spectrum we may sometimes think of Jesus and today’s “special guest,’ Maximillian Kolbe.

In 1904, at the age of ten, Our Blessed Lady appeared to Kolbe. She offered him two crowns: one for martyrdom and one for purity. He accepted both and lived as a Franciscan priest who spread the love of our Mother. In 1941, the Gestapo sent Kolbe to Auschwitz in Poland. Kolbe lived among the prisoners and saw them starved, tortured and killed. In one incident, prisoners tried to escape. As punishment, the Nazis selected ten men to die by starvation. Franciszek Gajowniczek was a married man with several children. Franciszek was part of the ten. Remember the two crowns Mother Mary offered Kolbe? One crown was martyrdom. Kolbe ‘s great love through Mary led him to volunteer to replace Franciszek. Kolbe was sent to the starvation prison and died there as a “martyr of charity.”

Does the love of Kolbe and Christ challenge our idea of how to grow love and the forms of love we practice: love of family, friends, spouse and how God loves? They are all different and good as God has willed them to be. Perhaps, we should pray with Kolbe to circumcise our hearts to show our depth and practice of God’s love, as we are called to do in the 1 st reading. Then we should, “Hold fast to Jesus.” Jesus tells us that, “Love conquers all.”

Most Blessed Trinity, bless us with Maximillian’s charity and with contrite and humble hearts.

God’s Kingdom Only Exists If We Live in It

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
August 7, 2023

Numbers 11: 4b-15
Psalm 81
Matthew 14: 13-21

Memorial of St. Sixtus II and his Deacons

A writer once said that we really do not have freedom unless we are free from sin, embrace truth and live by our virtues. Today’s Scripture really sees the Jewish people in the desert sinning against God by not trusting in the truth of His goodness and care. Perhaps worse is their lack of gratitude for sustaining them with manna. Their hearts are not deeply Trusting in God. They are not living the Kingdom. Their attitude is not blooming with the virtue of gratitude.

The Gospel shows a better picture of living the Kingdom. Jesus shows his love and protection as it exists in the Kingdom. It appears the people are out in a field and are grateful being with Jesus. Jesus is trusted and cares for their needs.

On which side of gratitude are we? Do we thank God that we will live forever? We have no end! When was the last time you thanked God for your wondrous body? You can see, think, hear, taste, smell, feel, conceive humans and love. Your body is the beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit. It supports the pillars of society’s earthly life, Truth and Family. You can be in the presence of and talk to God and receive His body and blood.

We are all aware of the Eucharist. Are we aware that in the Greek, the word “evangel” means “Thanksgiving, “Gratitude?” What ACTIONS do we give back in gratitude to God? Do we Evangelize? Does our Evangelization uphold Catholic teachings on living in our created nature not transgenderism; living in marriage-only-sexuality, with one spouse of the opposite sex; protecting all life; not living the heresies promoted by some bishops; protecting those in sex-trafficking and as refugees; and from corrupting social media; addictions, guns and all the marginalized of the world? Lord, help our gratitude and make it real as we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Quite a list needing God’s attention and action, and ours.

Lord, let us live with gratitude NOW in Your Kingdom. In your fathomless Mercy, help us ACT with contrite and humble hearts.

Is Your Mind a Field Open to the Seeds of Growth?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
July 31, 2023

Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34
Psalm 106
Matthew 13: 31-35

Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about how a tiny mustard seed grew into largest of plants. The mustard seed takes me back to our home in South Philadelphia where our yard was concrete with just a small broken area by the back wall. I had never grown anything, but I wanted to. So, with little knowledge and a tiny plot of dirt, I planted the seeds for morning glories. Out the flowers came and crawled up the wall reaching out for heaven. Two things happened. My mind was opened up by the new experience and it reached out to learn more about the mysteries that are hidden from us until we search. Searching is good for any of us. Today, we remember St. Ignatius of Loyola. He went from soldier to searcher.

St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, appears to have had a rip-roaring young life as a soldier and gambler and sought the affections of the ladies. As a result of a traumatic injury, Ignatius ended up needing a long recovery, He used his time to study the life of Jesus and of the saints. He, perhaps a typical soldier of his time, took those seeds of study and founded the world-famous Jesuit Order.

Most importantly, the morning glories and the Jesuits help us to understand that Jesus became man to plant the seeds of learning so that we might blossom from being tiny as we are now into spiritually, giant wonders at the throne of God.

Lord, our Merciful God, let the nurturing of a contrite and humble heart lead our searching for You.

Christ, the Lord of Perseverance, Reminds Us to Stick to the Task

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
July 17, 2023

Exodus 1: 8-14, 22
Psalm 124
Matthew 10: 34 – 11: 1

14th Week of Ordinary Time

We all have tasks., Some tasks are fun, some very difficult. Helping children to understand the human implications of our troubled Church and our deteriorating national culture has many complexities, joys and disappointments. Moving children through the anxiety of today’s most selfish, visible world and into a spiritual, invisible world is truly most difficult and necessary. Helping ourselves and the children to remember that God’s law takes precedent over personal desires and causes us to be countercultural is perhaps something new for some of us. Helping them to grasp academic and social victories and difficulties with humility is a challenge.

Wasn’t it difficult for our Jewish ancestors of the 1st reading, to overcome a death lurking task, if they did not comply with the insecurity of the Pharaoh?

Most of us probably always have our tasks on our minds. How many of us remember that the Gospel tells us that a major task in our lives is to spread the Gospel? Thank God that St. Francis tells us, “Preach, and, when necessary, use words.“ I don’t know how many of us would stand on a street corner and preach as did St. John the Baptist. But we are capable of good works and the perseverance of having God flow through our personalities, by words and deeds, and many times through silence. Jesus always reminds us that the heart of all our tasks is to love God with our entire being and our neighbors as ourselves.

A sharing of love is a rebirth of ourselves and a Victory for Christ and an infinitely rewarding task.

Blessed Lord, within all our tasks, help us to build a contrite and humble heart.

Living Love Breaks the Dam and Lets Flow Pea+ce and Confidence

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
July 10, 2023

Genesis 28: 10-22a
Psalm 91
Matthew 9: 18-26

14th Week of Ordinary Time

Do you “watch” Jesus in Scripture? Did you ever see Him lose His internal pea+ce or lack of direction or confidence? He sure did face some difficult times. Even the money changers at the Temple saw His exterior anger which was fed by His internal pea+ce directing the Jewish people back to God. He never lost confidence even when He might have seemed foolish saying He could feed 5,000 men with a few fish and loaves of bread, or when He called upon the Father when He was healing, firing at the Jewish leaders or living His dreadful Passion. Never did Jesus with His overpowering love over all things cower when He raised people from death, as He did in today’s Gospel.

If you watch Jesus, you can see how He lives all aspects of love. Love is not only thought, it is action. You know you are living love when the mental attitude of understanding, graciousness, acceptance, mercy, forgiveness, etc., of love; and the living actions of love, “helloing” people, living courteously in word and deed, offering the many ways of rendering assistance, come together and your heart feels the joy of serving God and others through internal pea+ce. When you instinctively love, you will feel free, happiness and at gentle ease and satisfaction. You are living God’s Will and are meriting your place with God and all His creation in Heaven. You will be living with great confidence in your destiny and what you have shared with and perhaps taught others.

So, loving Father-God, let us live free in love. Let us fly free like the birds of the air on our way into your arms and those of our Immaculate Mother, Mary.

Blessed Trinity, we give you in love our contrite and humble hearts.

“Make My Day”.

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
July 3, 2023

Ephesians 2: 19-22
Psalm 117
John 20: 24-29

Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle

A while back, the tail pipe on the car I was driving on the Philadelphia Expressway became unhooked. I was on my way to a job interview.

What to do? I had to pull over. A car pulled over behind me. Out pops the best friend I ever had! How can this be? He lived in South Philadelphia, some 24 miles away. He was a pretty smart and practical guy. In a second, he said, “Take off your trouser belt, tie it to the tail pipe and bumper and your OK.” He made my day!

Just like St. Thomas in the Gospel, I could have stayed in my disbelief and anxiety. But just like my friend, Christ gave Thomas a simple and safe solution, “Put your finger into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

In his own way, in the first reading, Paul tells us that Jesus never leaves us by ourselves, without a solution which He taught in the Gospels. He left us “As members of the household of God.” He built the household on the bricks of the Gospels, and the leadership of ”Apostles and prophets as caretakers of His love and message with Jesus, Himself, as the capstone.” We are meant to be, “A dwelling place of God in the Spirit, [for the love of God and each other.”] As the Preface of the Mass says, “For you, eternal Shepherd, do not desert your flock, but through the blessed Apostles, [and today’s Bishops], You have appointed shepherds to lead it in the name of your Son.”

Let us pray for our Good Shepherds. Let us be Good Shepherds in our domestic Churches. Remember your Baptism, “Receive the Light of Christ [and spread it.”]

Lord, make my day. Help me to live in your household with a contrite and humble heart.

Darkness Is Not Real. It Is the Absence of Christ’s Light. Light Up Your Life.

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
June 26, 2023

Genesis 12: 1-9
Psalm 33
Matthew 7: 1-5

Did you ever have an experience with a teenager who was having an overnight with friends and called you at 3 AM to come get him or her? Were you relieved when you saw him or her come out of the deep, dark woods from behind a house you knew nothing of? Would we not be truly grateful for the light?

The dark can be very scary for a lot of different reasons. Not only when you flip a switch and there is no light, but also when you come out of a preoccupied state and recognize you are not thinking straight and did something you regret. Today’s Gospel reminds us that we may be thinking of something someone did that we thought was wrong and chastised the person. We forget the light of mercy and the things we do wrong. We are to be the light of mercy.

Coming back to reality, we might see the Light of Christ and call to mind the biblical meaning of Light: light stands for things that we find reassuring – truth, goodness, safety, life and the sustaining divine presence. Darkness, on the other hand, is shorthand for spiritual blindness and the many things that scare us: sorrow, pain, sickness and death. The word “light” is used 272 times in the Bible. Might that be a reminder for us? Recall John 8: 12, “Jesus spoke again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Father of the Light, help us to know you completely.

We, with trust and ardent prayer, and with a sincere and open heart, need to seek the Light that Christ brought and which has been breathed into us by the Holy Spirit. Christ’s Light gives us the pea+ce to find the beauty and happiness even of this world. The darkness of the Crucifixion of Christ reminds us that we will suffer. It is obliterated by the Light of the Gospel beaming itself on our Redemption and the love and eternal life promised to us by our Savior.

“Lord, that I may see your Light of Life.”

Prayers Are Not Just Words; Through Thought, They Are Our Realities

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
June 19, 2023

2 Corinthians 6: 1-10
Psalm 98
Matt 5: 38-42

Saint Romuald

St. Romuald wanted prayer to be the most significant devotion in his life. He founded, in a sense, an order of hermits. Most of us don’t think about life as a hermit, praying all day. How does anyone do that?

One time, Father Domenic said a funeral Mass for our Chinese Mother named Elizabeth. Father said Elizabeth prayed 12 Rosaries a day for years, accumulating over two million times the petition, “Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” Elizabeth was not a hermit. She had an active life and several children.

What did Elizabeth and Romuald do to have the words of their prayers blossom into a greater personal relationship with our God? Did they not ask themselves, “What did the words of prayer mean? What do they mean to me?

Want to improve your prayer life? Try this: take a word or a phrase and concentrate on their meaning to you. For instance, take these phrases and words, maybe one daily:

“The Lord be with you;” “Come follow me;” “Hell.” Possible examples:

In the beginning: Does the phrase, “in the beginning,” remind you of the eternal nature of God and remind you that before God created all of creation, you were in His mind and without Him there would be no carrots, no air, no water, no submarines; zero, zip, nothing?

Love: Does the word, “love,” mean a complete openness by you for the “human and spiritual care” of those you can help? Or does love mean, its a nice thought but it is a passive word and is only feeling and not action?

What does it mean to ask God for a contrite/ humble heart?

Pray, let us release ourselves from this earth into the presence of God.

We Have Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
June 12, 2023

2 Corinthians 1: 1-7
Psalm 34
Matthew 5: 1-12

10th Week in Ordinary Time

In 1933, when the world was in financial crisis because of the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged us by saying to us in his inaugural address, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” We, today, are in a proxy war with Russia and in a moral “civil” war because of significant damage to our American Culture through selfishness, Just as President Roosevelt encouraged us by his words, in the first reading, St. Paul reminds us, “Blessed be the Father of compassion who encourages us in our every affliction.” God is always concerned about our understand of travail on this earth. And when we are in the midst of suffering, we may forget that He is the One you go to for relief and understanding. We may be fearful. That is why, in the Bible, and many times directly from Jesus, we hear the comforting words, “Do not be afraid.” 365 times the Bible tells us not to be afraid.

In today’s Mass, The Communion Antiphon reminds us, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my saving strength.” There is no doubt we will feel pain and suffering. We will experience emotional, psychological and spiritual unpleasantness. But in all this, we share the Passion and Death of our beloved Jesus. As Servant of God, Chiara Lubich, tells us that when we suffer, we may come to,” Such a realization [of suffering] can be so strong as even cause one to offer acts of gratitude to the One who permits suffering.

T. Merton prays, “I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” To fear God is really to fear His awesomeness.

Please God, in Your Mercy, grant us contrite and humble hearts.

What Takes Up Most of Our Attention?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
June 5, 2023

Tobit 1: 3; 2: 1b-8
Psalm 112
Mark 12: 1-12

Memorial of St. Boniface

Perhaps what takes up most of our attention are perceived needs that are directly and immediately in front of us. Mostly earthly needs. These needs may depend on our time of life and the life we are living. A mother of young children wakes up thinking of her kids. A dad wakes up thinking of doing well at work. A baseball player thinks about the hits he got in the last game or the misses. Teenagers may think about getting through the school day to get to the sports they will play and the opposite, (maybe), sex. Lots of things get our attention. Some look forward to getting to their daily prayers, maybe even Mass.

Jesus has told us that most these things are worthwhile and He and the Spirit will help us do well with them. But notice what Jesus through Scripture and Tradition give attention to first and always: not to earthly things that will disappear, but to the most valuable eternal things of life in mutual love, pea+ce and comfort with God.

Today’s Gospel shows the King wanting to make sure his valuable possessions were doing well. He even asks for samples of their produce. We know that Jesus came to earth to make sure we know in our very beings, our souls, the reality of God and explicitly that love is the route to eternal life. And Tobit shows us, that no matter what, we must understand and obey the laws God has given us. In Matthew 6: 32-33, Jesus tells us, “Do not worry and say, ‘What shall we eat or drink or wear. All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Let us try to be trusting and focus our attention on our salvation through the love of God for you and me.

Mary, As Our Mother, Is Most Happy at Our Success As a Family

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
May 29, 2023

Genesis 3: 9-15, 20
Psalm 87
John 19: 25-34

Mary, Mother of the Church

Today’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus said to us through John, “Behold your Mother.” In the Preface of today’s Mass, while distressed at the foot of the Cross, Mother Mary received from Jesus a profound understanding of His love and mercy for us. At that point, Mary took to herself all of us as her sons and daughters.

Think of all a mother does for her children, nursing them, feeding them, educating them, learning of their joys and misunderstandings, counseling them with patience and accompanying them through puberty and throughout their lives. All that nurturing for all her family, as the Body of Christ, during sun-filled days and stormy nights. Feeling well or not. All those hugs and kisses.

Through Mother Mary’s care and our Mary-like Faith and open hearts, we are privileged to ask Mary to , “Stay close to me each day, especially at the hour of my last sacrifice. In Paradise, receive me as the good thief, your Son, brother of Jesus. (Venerable Nguyen Van Thuan +2002).

Share with Mother your Contrite and humble heart.

“We Have Never Even Heard, There Is a Holy Spirit”

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
May 22, 2023

Acts 19: 1-8
Psalm 68
John 16: 29-33

7th Week of Easter

It would not be a surprise if you were shocked by the response in the first reading that St. Paul was given when he asked the people if they had received the Holy Spirit. “They answered him, ‘We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” How often do we think and talk about the Holy Spirit? If we remember that Jesus told us he would send the Holy Spirit to remind us of all He had taught us and that the Holy Spirit is really our guide to Heaven, we would think more of the Holy Spirit. If we remember that the Holy Spirit engages our inner lives and fills us with the love and understanding for which we should pray to please God.

In John’s Gospel, we are reminded that is some ways we are all scattered from our roots physically, socially, psychologically or emotionally. The Holy Spirit gives us the tools to keep us in tacked. I know that when the Army shipped me to Japan, thousands of miles away from my home, I needed the Holy Spirit for pea+ce and patience. I needed the Holy Spirit to remind me of the tender love of Christ for me. I was reminded to erase any fear in my love for and relationship with God but to hold God in awe as our Daddy-God and protector.

So, while I was In Japan, God knew I was somewhat anxious. As impossible as it might sound, God also knew my Catholic Faith is all I really carried with me from home. So, the Holy Spirit gave me the courage and confidence to seek to get the job as Chaplain’s Assistant even though the Army had trained me as a machinist and there were several in the Chaplain’s Office in Tokyo who wanted the job.

“O merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray, with the graces of Your Holy Spirit, with love, joy, pea+ce, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, humility and temperance.” Holy Spirit- God, never let us be scattered from You.

God, please give us contrite and humble hearts.

Make Christ’s Words Understandable to Us as Is Our Own Flesh

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
May 15, 2023

Acts 16: 11-15
Psalm 149
John 15: 2

6th Week of Easter

Words and expressions are very interesting especially as a thought made perhaps millions of years ago. When God looked back over all He created, He said to Himself, “Very good.” I doubt He would ever have said “Cool.” Those expressions have the same meaning but they are in different words.

Sometimes the same words and expressions that we use over time actually lose their original meaning or become ambiguous. Even perhaps more undesirable is our not changing the words but revising the meaning. Today it is unlikely that the words from Genesis, “Become one flesh,” connote the same meaning as “marriage” or vice versa.

Notice that Biblical words typically were words used in everyday language. Jesus did that all the time. He wanted to communicate in words and circumstances that the people then and we, now, use in our daily lives so that the message would get through. He cured the “blind,” the “sick,” and fed people with “bread” and “fish.” Jesus always told stories in examples the people, who were farmers and sheep herders, would understand. Even at the Last Supper, Christ offered His “Body” and “Blood.” What Jesus was to sacrifice was very clear. Today, around the world, the words of consecration at Mass are the same words, “Body” and “Blood.”

God in the Bible and through Jesus, always wanted to make sure He opened hearts in order for the human and God to know each other. Jesus’ teachings are always presented in a design of communication and love.

It is for us in bearing witness for Christ that we use the words that will help us to understand and with which we can spread the Word of God.

“Into Your ‘hands,’ Lord, I commend my Spirit.”

That Voice within Us

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
May 8, 2023

Acts 14: 5-18
Psalm 115
John 14: 21-26

5th Week of Easter

As a child, Shirly Temple glowed from the inside like a lit-up pumpkin at Halloween, a Jack o Lantern. What caused that look of ever-present love and confidence? Was it that secret, inner voice we all have telling her and us how wonderful it is to make others happy? Saying to us, “Atta boy or atta girl,” when we are sharing a secret smile with God knowing we are doing God’s Will? I don’t know the answer. But I do believe in the Holy Spirit of God.

I believe that through the Holy Spirit, we hopefully have done our best to have a properly formed Catholic-Christian conscience. No doubt we have that conscience with us in a world of questionable and sinful distractions. And sometimes we may hear that almost totally independent inner voice negotiating within itself as it strives to advise us. Did you ever have that voice be still while you considered the pros and cons of the decision the voice was considering? Instead, did that voice take you into a Scripture scene and watch how Jesus would handle and conclude to the value of the debate?

Does what I have written help you to believe as Jesus told us in the Gospel, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name — He will teach you everything and remind you of all I have told you?”

Maybe find something new. Let you imagination and the voice take you to the knees of your heavenly Father. Bow. Then look Him in the eyes and slowly and with joy and pea+ce say the Our Father.

That inner voice is God’s Gift of guiding Light to you.

Live the Gifts by Which You and Your Household Will Be Saved

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
May 1, 2023

Acts 11: 1-18
Psalms 42, 43
John 10: 11-18

4th Week of Easter; St. Joseph the Worker

Meaningful gifts, such as gifts of caring, may go unnoticed. I have a dear friend who does all kinds of things. He lives in Pennsylvania and sometimes in Maine. He wanted to plant peach trees in Maine. As Nature would have it, peach trees are to be planted in winter time. Maine can get up to 110 inches of snow annually, (over 9 feet).

The soil was frozen. He had to rent a machine to dig holes for the peach trees and provide warmer soil. The trees have survived the winter and he is going to Maine this week because the trees “need feeding.” Can you imagine that gift of care for the peach trees. Since my friend gives a gift of caring to the fruits of Nature, how much more do you think God gives gifts to the fruits of His love?

God gives us all the gifts we need to “feed on.” As Psalm 40 tells us, God does not, “Ask us for [gifts of] sacrifice and offerings but an open ear.” We learn from Psalm 51, what God would like as a gift from us is, “A humble and contrite heart which [He promises] He will not spurn.” As the prayers of today’s Mass ask of God, “Grant also that the gifts we bring may bear fruit in perpetual happiness in the incorruptible glory of [our] resurrection.”

Knowing the gift-relationship between us and God, knowing His love for all of His creation, let us be able to say of ourselves what Psalm 40 says, “I have not hidden Your love and Your Truth from the great assembly. “ I have done my part to spread Your gift of love and salvation to all. Then with complete confidence we can sing in our souls the Good Friday hymn, “Father, I put my life in your hands.”

Grant God your gift of a humble, contrite and faithful loving heart.

Does the Truth Only Exist When We Say It Does?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
April 25, 2023

Acts 6: 8-15
Psalm 119
John 6: 22-29

3rd Week of Easter

Have you ever heard anyone say that they won’t look at their scale when it says they are gaining weight because they don’t like what the scale says? How many times have we heard the Jewish leaders call Jesus a liar when He preaches? Do you think the person avoiding the scale weighs any less? Is Jesus a liar because the Jewish leaders say so?

Truth is the only reality and is made up of universal principles which are there for everyone by which to live, and unchanging principles because they are forever. Truth is the bedrock of whom we are as human beings created by God and striving for participation in divine life. We must nourish and protect each other. These are Truths based on natural/moral laws, which are universal and unchanging in God’s creation, “as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be.” How often do we find folks in both Testaments telling the Truth at the peril of their lives. Remember, John the Baptist, the woman at the well, the blind man from birth? All the Apostles, except John, died martyrs while preaching the Truth. How many, some of even our Episcopate may have strayed from the Truth or may be trying to “dumb it down?”

How often in politics or the “news” or social media do we hear about “alternative truth? “Christ taught all the Truths: remember He took pity on the 5,000 because they had no food; He protected the woman caught in adultery. Let us pray that the Lord helps us follow the Laws of right living and as Psalm 119 begs, “Lord remove from me the way of falsehood.”

Just as Stephen in today’s Gospel gave up his life spreading the Word, we have to understand the Truth and spread it. A Truth is that Christ commissioned us to do so.

Let us live in the Truth, pea+ce, love and mercy of Jesus.

Unless One Is Born from Above, He Cannot See the Kingdom of God

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
April 17, 2023

Acts 4: 23-31
Psalm 2
John 3: 1-8

2nd Week of Easter

Faith enables us, through our Baptisms, to believe in our rebirth, through, with and in Jesus and provides us with confidence in Jesus. Confidence is critical in many aspects of life. Think about flying 30,000 feet above an ocean in a metal tube called an airplane. Think about surgeons putting a cow’s aortic valve into your heart. Part of the Lord’s coming to earth to be with us is to inspire confidence. Shakespeare’s Hamlet tells us why:

“The dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of . . .”

Jesus tells us to have the needed confidence in God and eternal life, “Unless one is born from above, [he will not have the perspective of the Spirit and be able to see the Kingdom of God.”]

For us the opening chapter of this perspective is the grace of our Baptisms which drives us away from our disposition to more human ways rather than those of the divine. The Scripture and Tradition fulfilled by Jesus and Mary in miracles, teachings and personal example are other links in this chain of the love and mercy of our salvation. The final link is for us to embrace the Crucified and Resurrected Christ. Remember Psalm 2, “Blessed are they who take refuge in the Lord.” Can you appreciate having confidence in the God of all creation and then you will see the Kingdom?

Let us live in the Truth, pea+ce, love and mercy of Jesus.

Boundless Joy in the Wonder of God’s Insatiable Love for Us

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
April 10, 2023

Acts 2: 14, 22-33
Psalm 16
Matthew 28: 8-15

Monday after Easter Sunday

Christ, the Victim undefiled,
Man to God hath reconciled.

For the sheep the Lamb hath bled,
Sinless in the sinner’s stead;
“Christ is risen,” today we cry;
Now he lives no more to die.

How can any of us really know and celebrate what Psalm 16 tells us that because of the Lord’s Resurrection,

“Our hearts are glad and our souls rejoice,
Because Jesus will not abandon our souls to the nether world,
Nor will Jesus suffer us, His faithful, to undergo corruption.”

If we try to understand all of creation, from the rose to the elephant to rockets in space and realize we will never die but live in the love of the Creator of all, all what one might sing is Alleluia, Alleluia.

For me, silence, meditation and imagination illuminated by prayer and hugs with Jesus, Mary and Joseph will help us go from human darkness to divine Light.

Pea+ce

From the Manger or His Cross, Jesus Always Holds Out His Hand to Us

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
April 3, 2023

Isaiah 42: 1-7
Psalm 27
John 12: 1-11

Monday of Holy Week

The 1st reading today is very powerful with just a few words, “Thus says the, Lord, “I have grasped you by the hand.’ ” In her Diary, Sister Faustina tries to help us understand what it means to be grasped by God, “Through the intimate union of the soul with God, I nourish myself on the voice of God in my soul. My soul receives inward instruction and learns about the interior life of God. With this conscious life of God in my soul, great is the mutual exchange between the soul and God. I want to spend every moment at the feet of God. I ask Him about everything.”

Jesus grasps us with His love and mercy all the time. Do we try to understand Jesus or do we act like Judas in the Gospel? Sometimes we may give a wink and a prayer but really do not delve into what Jesus is saying to us. In the Gospel Jesus is preparing all of us for His passion and death. At the same time Lazarus who has been raised from death is Jesus’ sign to us of our future. The Jewish leaders are so involved with their own selfishness, they miss the wonder of everlasting life.

Psalm 27 reminds us that, “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation.” We gain so much when we purposely and without reservation deliver ourselves to the consciousness of the life of God in our souls and return His grasp.

Let us live in the love and mercy of Jesus.

Satisfied to Support Lies for Self-Satisfaction and Ill Will

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
March 27, 2023

Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
Psalm 23
John 8: 1-11

Lies Which Can Severely Damage Our Culture

Some believe the Church is way behind times and needs to change some of its thinking. That may be true when the Church offers something outside of Scripture and Tradition. Take the story about Susanna in the book of Daniel written about 165 BC. Respected elders lied about her because of lust. They were found out and killed. The first reading has an appropriate line for what happened. “Now have your past sins come to term.”

Do you think that line, “Now have your past sins come to term,” fits in today’s situation between a voting machine manufacturer and a popular news channel and some of its anchors. Folks who did not like a particular politician nor the person’s way of acting or lies, vehemently and continuously gave support of lies about the 2020 election and the January 6, travesty against the soul of our Nation. The channel may be put to a financial death because of the law suit against it for $1.6 billion. The anchors, supposedly “honest elders of the truth” told public lies for the sake of maintaining viewers and advertisers. Money.

We all get tempted to say or do something that appeals to what may be our negative self-satisfaction or the “get even” part of our nature. Note all those who still subscribe to the lies that have been told and to those lawmakers who still promote the lies for the sake of their own power and reelection. As the Gospel tells us, we all get tested. God has given us dignity as having been created in His image and likeness. As Psalm 23 tells us, “The Lord guides me in right paths, and even though I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side, [and are always ready to restore dignity to a soul which is contrite and holds fast to your promise of infinite truth, mercy and love.”]

Let us live in the love and mercy of Jesus.

Fathers, God Has Transferred His Rights to You

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
March 20, 2023

2 Samuel 7: 4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Psalm 89
Romans 4: 13, 16-18, 22
Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24a
Luke 2: 41-51a

Solemnity of St. Joseph

Through the magnificence of the Holy Family, the invisible God became visible to us. Today, we have a chance to understand St. Joseph through the intentions of God the Father for St. Joseph’s life of love, sacrifice and almost anonymity.

Bishop Bossuet (+1704), teaches us, “An angel was sent to Joseph to tell him, that while he was not the father of Mary’s child, Jesus has no father but God. But God has transferred His rights to you. After this dream, Joseph became a changed man. He became a father and a husband in his heart. The effect of his marriage was the tender care that he had for Mary and the divine Child.”

Joseph’s life could best be expressed as an Irish ballad. He was born of the house of David, married and accepted Mary’s pregnancy through the power of the Holy Spirit, sheltered Mary as she gave birth to the King of Mercy, fed, clothed and gave them total protection whether it was on their trip to Egypt to avoid a murderous king and on their travels to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Joseph taught Jesus how to work to earn a living. No doubt Joseph, in a most blessed way, taught Jesus to adore God and care for his Mother and others.

All fathers have to take up the rights and obligations given then by the Father to fathers. As St. Paul tells us in today’s Scripture, fathers participate in,“ Calling into being, what does not exist.” The Preface of the Mass prays, “For this just man was given by you as spouse for the Virgin Mother of God and set as a wise and faithful servant in charge of your household.”

Surely the Blessed Trinity greeted Joseph with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, share your Master’s joy.” So, may the Blessed Trinity greet all fathers.

Let us live in the glory of the Love and Mercy of God.

Do I Really Engage God’s Mercy in Awe, or Is God’s Mercy Just a Cliché?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
March 13, 2023

2 Kings 5: 1-15ab
Psalms 42-43
Luke 4: 24-30

According to Sister, St. Faustina’s Diary, she was told by Jesus, “Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother’s womb. How painfully distrust of my goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust {of My mercy] wound Me most painfully.”

For the Blessed Trinity Mercy = Love. Love = Mercy. Love and Mercy are the reasons for our existence. Think about it. We were created from nothing out of God’s desire to share God’s love with you and me, personally and as God’s Family which we call “The Church.” In creation God provided our food, all the beauty we need, all the belonging we need. Think about how God immediately jumped to Adam and Eve’s salvation after they committed the first sin; how God made a sailor out of Noah; how God freed the Israelites from the Egyptians; how Jesus became Man to save us with the encouragement and guidance of the Holy Spirit and the prayers, sacraments and all the good works of all who do His Will. Even as we wait in hope, the Lord reaches out even to every nation to work together. Unfortunately, God has to allow us to have desperate times. Think of the war in the Ukraine or the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. These things break our hearts but are causes that almost force us to pray to God for help and the opportunity to work together IN GOD’S MERCY!

Telling God in our meekness we are wholly dependent on God’s help. This at every moment so to swallow our food and to have our salvation and that of the whole world assures God that we are not asleep like some really asleep or hard- hearted in the Gospel. It recognizes God as our Abba and our love.

Let us live in the Mercy and Pea+ce of God.

Acting Like God

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
March 6, 2023

Daniel 9: 4b-10
Psalm 79
Luke 6: 36-38

A long time ago I watched a movie in which Jack Palance starred. I think he was a mystic who thought he was God and could fly. He jumped off a building and found out he was not God. We frequently talk about a relationship with God. If we get accused for “acting as God, “ that is usually a criticism. But the truth of the matter is acting like God is the right thing to do if we love God. If we act with His love, compassion, understanding, generosity and forgiveness; if we do not judge a person rather than that person’s behavior, that is acting like God. However, if we act in a wicked way as described in the 1 st reading, we are trying to be God. The difference is acting like God is the way it ought to be. Trying to be God, as Adam and Eve were tempted to be, is always wrong. Think about dictators who fall, some even by their own hand.

Humility and meekness are our signs of our God-related disposition. In humility we examine our internal life and our thoughts of who we are . If, in our internal life, we think we are no better in any way than anyone else, we are practicing humility. If we defer to others and still do the best we can in our external life, we are being meek.

Today’s Gospel is like a happy song for us. “Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you.” Let us grow passed the negative scarcity in our humanity. Let us grow into the positive divine life of Christ.

Therese of Liseux prayed, “Dear Lord, Your Father’s heart is full of wisdom, truth and love. You lead us to enjoy the beauty in creation, to engage each day with love in our hearts. You teach us to live lives brimming with your love and goodness. We are so blessed to live in Your care. Thank You for guiding us into true love and happiness by Your gentle hand. We choose to give our lives to You each day.

Pray. Converse with and listen to God.

I Don’t Think It’s a Sin Anymore. Do You?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
February 27, 2023

Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18
Psalm 19
Matthew 25: 31-46

First Week of Lent

I don’t think it is a sin anymore. Do you? That is becoming like a hit tune on an old radio program called the HIT PARADE. Some of those tunes were gentle, soft, romantic. Some were very energetic like the Charleston. I guess those who still enjoy those are considered out of step with Rap and scantily dressed performers of today hanging from this or that. Nevertheless, from time to time those tunes of “yesteryear” turn up and remind us of our old values. I believe that Bing Crosby’s rendition of White Christmas will always be around.

Somehow, the unchangeable ways of dealing with life given to us from the eternal mind of God seem to be falling into the abyss of the past. The first of any actions in life is to love. Is to do what Matthew 25 tells us about appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior towards anyone. What used to be “News Programs” appear to have become shows that dwell on sensational challenges to love. Commercials are filled with sex and violence. But that does not have to occupy minds if one is having his or her way.

Let us not lose our footing. God’s law will always be the Truth. We may not rationalize what sin is when He has told us what it is and sent His Son to emphasize how to live. Hearts suffer for relatives and friends who have become “modern” in the name of fitting in and political correctness and ultimately of selfishness. We can even be betrayed by a supposedly well-formed conscience.

Lent is a time in history that calls us back to honoring God’s eternal Truth. Stumbling and falling into sin is not the end of the fight. As Jeremiah 31:13 tells us, “I will turn their mourning into joy, I will show them compassion and have them rejoice after their sorrows.” Jesus will never stop guiding and loving us so long as we repent and recognize and love Him back.

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

Faith Is in Your Minds and Hearts. You Only Have to Carry It Out.

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
February 20, 2023

Sirach 1: 1-10
Psalm 93
Mark 9: 14-29

Today’s Scripture asks a somewhat different question. Many have deep seated Faith. How are our experiences in life, positive and negative, centered around that Faith? Do we “use” our Faith only when we have an awful, fearful, situation like the father in the Gospel? Do we use our Faith in gratitude when a good job is found? Interestingly Faith can deal with the same good and bad situation. Think of sending off a loved one to war. Faith can smooth the fearing heart. When that loved one comes home, Faith can magnify one’s happiness. I have a dear relative who was carrying a baby. She was told the baby had some almost incurable disease and should abort him. In tears and for many months she hung fast to her Faith and would not abort. Today, she has a 13-year-old son who teaches himself Italian and is a wonderful cook and football player.

In the 7th Century before Christ, Moses wrote Deuteronomy. He tells us, “Faith is in your mouths and hearts. You have only to use it.” How many times does Scripture record Jesus saying, “Fear not, your Faith has saved thee.” “Everything is possible to one who has Faith.”

Isn’t Wisdom the proper use of Faith? In the 3 rd Century before Jesus, Sirach, in his book, Jesus Ben Sira, blesses us with these beautiful thoughts, “There is a wisdom in the world greater than all the world’s agonies, and that Wisdom has become flesh. God has lavished that Wisdom, His only begotten Son, upon His friends. Prayer unleashes it.”

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

Do I Have a Stable Seat on the Fence of Life?

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
February 13, 2023

Genesis 4: 1-15, 25
Psalm 50: 1, 8, 16bc, 17, 20-21
Mark 8: 1-3

How often do we think about and feel solid in Christ, in the Faith Christ taught and we, as the Church, are meant to perpetuate? Do I know how to turn and be within God in order to deal with today’s challenges, real or imagined?

Look at the 1st reading. Did Cain really have to kill his brother because he thought his parents loved him less? Did the people in today’s Gospel have to frustrate Jesus by asking for yet another sign of his Deity?

For most people it is easy to go to Mass and to pray. But does the reliving of Christ Passion and recalling the life of Jesus and Mary in the Rosary “inebriate” our souls and energize our spirits? Is Jesus walking beside us in everything?

We certainly don’t want ourselves to fall into what Jesus may be thinking as he listened to the Jewish people asking for more signs, “While I know you believe in me, and while you are not really hypocrites, you really may not take me to heart and trust me and what I taught you as you deal with good and evil.”

God has given us all the virtue we need to turn into His omnipresence and love to resolve the experiences of life. Think about the conversation Jesus had with the Good Thief as they both faced death. Hear Jesus say, “Father into your hands I commend my Spirit.” And to the Good Thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Let the aura of God’s pea+ce be with you.

The Little Flower said this prayer, “Dear Lord, Your Father’s heart is full of wisdom, truth and love. You lead us to enjoy the beauty in creation, to engage each day with love in our hearts. You teach us to live lives brimming with Your love and goodness. We are so blessed to live in your care. Thank you for guiding us into true love and happiness by your gentle hand. We choose to give our lives to you each day.”

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

All of Creation, Its Life, Beauty, and Genius Cry Out the Divinity and Absolute Necessity of God

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
February 6, 2023

Genesis 1: 1-19
Psalm 104: 1-2, 5-6, 10, 1224, 35
Mark 6: 53-56

St. Paul Miki and Companions, 26 Martyrs

There are those who have accepted the Catholic Faith based on the Martyrs who were willing to give their lives for Jesus and what He taught. Paul Miki and 25 others were crucified in Nagasaki, Japan in 1597 for teaching the Faith.

Today’s 1 st reading and Psalm tell a most beautiful story of Creation. St. Paul Miki must have been able to reflect on God as God as revealed by Jesus and by the beautiful Japanese surroundings. One could acknowledge that St. Paul’s study of Scripture and his fruitful digestion of the beauty and genius surrounding him compelled him to share the Creator-Savior with his country men and women. He also understood, as today’s Gospel tells us, the divine power in Christ because, many sick and diseased people were healed by Jesus.

For myself, I don’t understand how people recognizing that people die for God; that God is all around us in things we know no one could bring from nothing. Just try to raise a tree with nothing with which to start. Try to create the elements of human conception. Try to create a soul that lives forever and talks to God and guides us. And yet there are people who may not believe in God and/or what Christ taught and did. Even the ancients worshipped the sun, etc. But the ancient Greeks believed in a higher being.

Are we conscious of the beauty God has planted as reminders of Him on the path we are to follow. Do we see the rose, the child who takes his/her first breath, the pleasure we can feel in sharing relationships? Are you ever overwhelmed by all that God is and has done and is doing? Do you find joy in sharing the proof of God’s existence?

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

How About That, We Don’t Commit Sin Anymore!

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
January 23, 2023

Hebrews 9: 15, 24-28
Psalm 98
St. Mark’s Gospel 3: 22-30

Legal Protection for the Unborn

“Born to love.”Jesus’ Birth and Passion were acts of love. Acts must our love be.

How do we stay away from sin? We have been told many wonderful reminders in recent homilies. Father Jim reminded us that New Years resolutions that express our desire to follow God are fine, but without setting a real act to be lived leaves bare the resolution. Deacon Hank pointed us to the same thinking.

Deacons John and Steve, remind us a lot is going on that may feel like a schism and may snare us and cause us to sin. Are Fr. Jim, Deacons John, Steve and Hank saying “regardless of snares, we can be assured of God’s love if we live the life of Jesus? We are protected by our acts that make up our shield of love?”

Father Steve tells us Christmas and the celebrations of Christ are with us all year round and like the Magi, call us to a “New Direction,” to live and spread Christ.

Are we listening? Are we growing closer to Jesus, our salvation, God’s Will? Are we aware of the growing decline in our culture? Is the sense of sin growing vague? Do we remember Abbot Ron Rossi said, “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world.” Hasn’t Jesus done enough?

Perhaps, by far though, the most unsettling aspect of the decline has been the near total evisceration of a sense of sin. This too is noted in Reconciliatio et Paenitentia. Pope Saint John Paul II starts by invoking a predecessor, Pius XI (pope between 1922-1939), who observed that “the sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin.” From there, the pontiff gives an account of the eclipse of sin. He cites the influence of secularism, the over- reliance on psychology and sociology for evaluations of personal responsibility, and a relativistic understanding of ethics. Actually, it was not a churchman who first sounded the alarm in the culture at large about the loss of a sense of sin in the U.S. It was, of all people, a psychiatrist – one coming from a field that often denies the reality of sin. It was Karl Menninger, a psychiatrist, the author of a work entitled Whatever Became of Sin? Menninger published his volume in 1973, more than a decade before Reconciliatio et Paenitentia. Menninger concluded that he was at a loss to help these troubled persons unless and until sin was addressed realistically. To understand sin intellectually and identify it can be far more medicinal than a fifty-minute session plumbing the deepest and darkest regions of memories associated with family breakdown, especially fatherlessness. Let us be aware of the snares, the occasions of sin about us.

Let us be more aware of all we have heard and our need to act and above all that, “We were born to love.”

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

“The Uncreated, Everlasting Gift of None Other Than the Holy Spirit”

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
January 16, 2023

Hebrews 5: 1-10
Psalm 100
Mark 2: 18-22

Scripture today tells us that we were made new [at Jesus’ birth], and have a priestly vocation to share, sacrifice and love. We are empowered, as Pope, Saint John Paul II tells us by, “The uncreated everlasting gift [of grace, i.e., help and reminders], of none other than the Holy Spirit.”

Randal Smith tells us this “making new event,” is re-enacted, spiritually, in the life of every one of the faithful when men and women are touched for the first time by the person and the word of Christ. The Lord, in His body and living might, enters into him or her at this moment. Now begins the penetration and growth of Christ in us; the reshaping of man and woman in Him. From here on, the summons is hearing of Christ’s truth, every sight of His image, every reminder of His commandments demands that we take Him deep into our hearts and put ourselves at His disposal willingly. This penetration by Jesus may come through another man or a woman, a book, or an inner experience – as he or she recognizes the truth and craves to embrace it.

Christmas reminds us of Christ and his great sacrifice. He came to share the love of the Blessed Trinity. He ascended into Heaven and sent His ever- present Spirit to be with us so that we can fulfill His commission, “Go forth and teach all nations.” (Matthew 28: 16-20). A good question is to ask ourselves if we have accepted all Christ has done and the Holy Spirit’s grace? Are you and I fulfilling His commission by our sharing, sacrificing and love? Can this be said of you and me, “This penetration by Jesus may come through another man or a woman –[you and I?] ”

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

In His Baptism, Jesus Washes Us Clean to Meet His and Our Father

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
January 9, 2023

Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7
Acts 10: 34-38
Psalm 29
Matthew 3: 13-17

It has been 100 generations since Jesus was Baptized. In Scripture today we watch St. John the Baptist back off from Baptizing Jesus. John’s Baptism was meant to call people to repentance. The Baptist may have known he was baptizing the sinless Son of God. But Jesus told John to go ahead and Baptize Him.

The Lord’s entire life was a life of good example for us. He wanted us to recognize that the Father loves us. Jesus knows that if we approach the Father with the courage of the Holy Spirit and a heart truly sorry for things we could have done better, that we are really saying to the Father, “I love you, Abba.” No doubt Jesus had in mind the hug we would get from the Father just as did the Prodigal Son.

The Father knows us as His beloved sons and daughters. Watch as Jesus through the Holy Spirit opens the heavens for us. Hear the Father say of you,

“Behold my child in whom I am well pleased.”

Try to imagine how you would feel as you melt into the chest and heart of the Father and hear His words. Let your soul be free and overjoyed with His love. Just think of how you feel when you hug a loved one, especially a child.

No doubt Mary watched Jesus’ Baptism. Perhaps even with St. Joseph.

Pray. Talk and listen to God.

Faith, the Heart and Engine of Our Life in Christ

By Deacon Bill Masapollo
January 2, 2023

1 John 2: 22-28
Psalm 98
John 1: 19-28

Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great and
Gregory Nazianzen

I guess you are aware of the fusion of nuclear cells just achieved after decades of study and experiment. Think about creating more energy by the fusion (joining together) than the energy it took to fuse them. One of God’s miracles just like the birth of a child. The joining of a man and a woman creates yet another person, first here were two and now three.

While the above may not sound relevant, just note the results of the fusion of you and me with Jesus. First there were no Christians and now there are over 2 billion Christians in the world. How did that happen? God sent us the prophets, the judges and the kings. He has sent is His saints and angels to give us His message. Then He gave us Jesus through Mary. And now He gives us the Catholic Church and the example of well-meaning people. And through God’s teaching in Scripture and Tradition, we, as in today’s Scripture, are reminded to grasp and hold on to our Faith so that as did the Saints we remember today, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, we may live it and give it away so as to cause the fusion of God’s love and Will with each and every one of us.

As St. John reminds us, “Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you remain in the Son and in the Father.” Let us preserve in integrity the gift of Faith.

Let us always thank God for the fusion of His Will and ours.

Pray. Talk and listen to God and Mary.