FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER  ANTHONY

In the Gospel, Jesus is saying this is what the reign of God is like. How does a child 
become a man so quickly? You do not notice the child growing from day to day. Parents are told at 
the child's Baptism they are the first teachers of the child about the faith. Some parents are afraid 
that the seed planted will go nowhere.

At Easter we will renew our Baptismal vows.  Three things that have to be there for our faith to grow and become fruitful are:  

1) Decent soil - We have to get sin out of our lives for seed to grow; the big ones will kill anything.  Get rid of little things.
2) Warmth - too much heat will kill a plant; needs right amount of heat and light. You have to have your heart right - have your heart ordered towards God. Tell Him you love Him.
3) Water - tears; we grow in repentance for our sins. We are called to something. Be repentant for your sins.

David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to the people of God. God holds him up as a model, despite his sins. "God, have mercy on me".

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER WADE

Presentation of Christ in the Temple is 40 days after Christmas.  The Ascension, the second rising, is 40 days after Easter.

Celebrate that the God-man is seen; seen by Simeon. Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God. We go to Christ by means of Christ's Church. The mystical body of Christ is the Church incarnate on earth. Vatican II was very orthodox, not very liberal. We members of the Church are called to love Holy Mother Church. The Church is the saving vessel.
  
What are the physical, tangible characteristics of this? These are the gifts of the Church to Her children:
(1) Sacred Scripture; (2) Seven Sacraments; (3) Mass; (4) Eucharist (exposed Adoration); 
(5) Liturgy of the Hours; (6) Sacred Music; (7) Blessings; (8) Personal Development; (9) Communal
Development; (10) Membership in Confraternities; (11) Religious Orders; (12) Others, i.e., Third Orders, Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, Convents, Shrines, Enrollment in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Holy Water Founts, Religious Art, Statue of Blessed Virgin Mary, Books on the Lives of Saints, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Rubrics say that the encouragement is to use bells in Liturgy. How we celebrate in the Church house will be how to live in the family. A watered down Liturgy in Church will lead to a watered down home.
We are to take in our arms Holy Mother Church and love Her.

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – FATHER JOSEPH
    
Religious life is to be a prophetic sign for us. In the Kingdom to come, we will live a life with Christ.  The nuns are living that life here on earth.
 
Many people have an identity crisis today; they do not understand why they are here. Without God the most important thing is missing. The life of a religious is a silent eloquent witness.  The habit reminds us of that.  The habit of those who wear it is to be like a signpost to others. Do not forget where we are going - to Heaven.
 
Feast of the Lord - theme of light - Jesus is the light of the world. He was presented in the Temple according to Mosaic Law. The Israelites marked their doorposts with the blood of a lamb. The first born was sacred; they belonged to God. The mother was to spend 40 days at home and then go to the Temple for purification. Today they are going to offer two turtle doves or pigeons because they were poor. 
 
The theme of light - Christ is light of the world. Think of Epiphany when the Wise Men were guided by the light of the star to the true light - Jesus Christ. They bow down in humble adoration.
Just go to Him. It is not necessary for us to understand. You will know in the depths of your being who He is. The candle at Easter pierces the darkness. We are believers in a great chain of believers. It was handed on to us just like the tradition of Thanksgiving. We should be thankful and grateful to God for this. It is something valuable for our future children and culture. The Apostles handed on the faith. Others made sacrifices to this country to bring the faith to us.

Faith is really a light. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a taste of the beatific vision in Heaven when we will gaze upon God face to face. Now we see dimly of the beatific vision. Faith is both a gift from God and our response to God. We do not always see. Sometimes our lives have differences. One of the challenges of our faith is suffering. We enter suffering with a typical human protest. Why? Christ suffered on the Cross. He says, "Come, follow Me".  Take up your cross and have your part in the redemption of the world. He would not take suffering away. He gave our suffering meaning, value and dignity. Man has always wrestled with suffering. Sin does have consequences.

We cannot say all suffering is a consequence of wrongdoing, because the Crucifix teaches us otherwise. The innocent suffers for the sinners. We Christians have a share in the Cross for the salvation of the world. Our souls are entrusted to us in our suffering. Say "Lord, this is for love of You and for souls".  When we make the Stations of the Cross, what we see is what He endured for us and we are strengthened. Then we are strengthened to take up our Cross. We walk by faith. We cannot walk around without faith. 

Hope is another light that we can turn on/off. Hope is the bridge between faith and love. Love will be the one that will endure. God will give us all we need to sustain us.  Hope is not based on anything earthly. It has little to do with earthly hope, but our hope in God. God is our one great big hope. The converts to our faith give us a shot of spiritual adrenaline to appreciate what we do have.

Faith is light for our minds; hope is light for our hearts. Pope John Paul II said that youth should put their mark of hope on this new millennium. Also as a Christian, we need to put that mark of hope. The light of love - man cannot live without love. It is in the Blessed Sacrament that we experience His love. We are one with Him; He is one with us. 

The escape to love - many want to escape. We all need to escape from tensions, anxieties, and burdens. How will we escape from them - in a very unhealthy way such as alcohol? A healthy escape is to love. Fly to the Father's heart and place yourself there in love. Then you will have that peace and hope and joy renewed. He is our Father.  He is big enough to handle our problems.  He will not abandon us. If we are with the Father, we have all we need.  Love Him with the light of the world. 

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER WADE
  
Celebrate the Presentation as a celebration of the Incarnation of the Lord. Second celebration of the Incarnation. Easter celebrates the Lord's resurrection. Easter season and Christmas season are the bookends of the entire liturgical year. All the Catholic rites celebrate the Presentation today. Simeon took Him into his arms. Both Canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours today mention this. This God-man started the Church. The mystical body of Christ is the Church Incarnate on earth. 
  
Anything that feeds the five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing are fed by beauty.
Church architecture feeds the people. It is important to have beauty. The Mass of Baptism follows closely to the Mass of the dedication of a new church. We do not know when we will be called or when we will meet Christ. We have to always be ready; have a clean house.

FATHER RAY BOURQUE'S BIBLE STUDY

Where am I going? HEAVEN!  Share it - we are going to HEAVEN! 
In 1979 Pope John Paul II had an appointment with the year 2000. The legacy of the Holy Year - Meet Jesus Christ.  Did you meet Jesus Christ?

We have to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ. If Christ is presented to young people as He is, that is the answer. We wish to see Jesus. Don't speak about Jesus - show what Jesus is all about. Am I showing Jesus by what I say, what I do? If we want the face of Christ to shine in our face, it would show. We would love Him. Take a piece of paper and put down everything you know about Jesus.

We are Trinitarian people. The Trinity is very involved in our lives. How did Jesus look?
We cannot contemplate Jesus' face by ourselves. We have to have faith to see what it means. Write this is what Jesus means to me and date it.

How will I contemplate the face of Jesus - through silence and prayer. Think about it.
Jesus gave up everything - self-emptying. Think about this self-emptying when making the Way of the Cross. 

SUNDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY - FATHER ANGELUS SHAUGHNESSY

There is more in this world than money, power, and pleasure.  Cultivate the sense of humor. There is a call to universal holiness. Next Sunday we celebrate World Marriage Day. This Sunday is dedicated to consecrated life, those principally under vows. Our survival consists of our support system. 

We have to cultivate a humble heart. Eight beatitudes can be reduced to four. At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the priesthood and the Eucharist.  He gave the command of love when He washed the feet of the Apostles.  Unless it is humble love, it is not His kind of love. Devoted humble love is what the Christian faith is all about. Humble love is loving humility. Why would God give any gifts to anyone other than the humble?  He asks us to be faithful. Only the humble heart can be faithful. Jesus crucified - naked clothed only in His own blood.

Only the humble heart can pray in Adoration. He is the great independent one if He so chooses. We are the dependent ones.   Without God for one instant, we would be gone.  There is no humility without accepted humiliation.  The humble person prays in contrition because we are all sinners. The greatest evil in the world is the denial of sin. The denial of sin perpetuates the sin. Our culture is to call evil "good".  Pornography is intrinsically evil; homosexual marriage is the abomination of desolation. Only the humble heart can admit sin and confess it to another human being. Only the humble heart can make a good confession.  

We pray in supplication, intercession and petition. He is the Creator and everything comes from His hand. St. Anthony would say that we know as much as we put into practice.

"The humble will be exalted".

The Franciscans of the Eternal Word are looking for a few good men. We need good people to serve the Lord at EWTN.  There are three things for a vocation: 1) every vocation has its price; 2) it is a job of love - being willing to do the job; 3) to be a  success in any vocation is giving it all you have.
All of us could be a great saint.