FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER JOSEPH

The Holy Father says until man experiences love, he cannot understand love. The first commandment is to love God. There are people who would prefer to give themselves to other things - some for a mediocre love of God.

We are to love God with all our mind, heart, soul and strength. It is encouraging to see someone who loves God with all his heart. God is using Hanceville as a place of conversion. His designs for you are good; that we would be united with Him and live in eternity with Him.

The sinner's attitude is just the opposite and he feels God is imposing on his life.

We must love God but also love our neighbor as we love ourselves - bring them back to God. What is lacking in our Catholic faith is bringing others back to God. Evangelization is lacking in our faith. People's lives are filled with emptiness sometimes. They need the Lord in their lives. We should have that desire to bring others to the Faith in any way we can. We can offer prayers and sacrifices for their conversion. Offer the morning offering for the conversion of sinners.

At every Mass, we have the greatest encounter on earth. While on earth in our human bodies, the Lord saw fit to give us the Mass. Let us take this to heart at the Mass and through this Lenten season and throughout our lives.

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER RAY BOURQUE

The theme of today's first reading - hypocrites and phonies. We cannot put on an act. God does not like hypocrites. In the reading from Hosea - people were not living the right way. It is mostly when people have problems that they go to God. In Hosea, the people were not sincere.

We can trust God; can God trust us. Am I doing the kind of Lent that is worthy of on high, or am I a phony? After Lent, will I go back to the way I was doing things - not repentant.

It is being presumptive when people do not regret their sins. You cannot plan to continue as before.

A sacrifice is OK as long as it is real and not phony. We have to change our attitude, and these are the days of conversion.

The Holy Father said we should undergo a number of conversions during this Jubilee Year. What conversion have I noticed in myself during the Jubilee Year so far? What does God want? Love, not sacrifice. Love with sacrifice is great, but without love, God does not want a phony sacrifice. God wants Hesed love, which is the kind of love between husband and wife, and He also wants Yada love, which is the kind of knowledge of God that we are expected to know.

In today's gospel, we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee is proud, and the tax collector is ashamed he is a sinner. The Pharisee is the phony.

Where am I at? God is looking for our love. What love do we have when we come to church? When we go to Mass, we are supposed to be touched deeply. The Offertory should change us at every Mass. Give yourself at Mass, but at the end of the Mass, do not take yourself back. You should be touched when you go to Mass. If this does not happen, we go home untouched.

How can be justified in the eyes of God? Going through the motions is not enough. Don't let pride disqualify you like the Pharisees.

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – FATHER AUGUSTINE

Father explained the ways of obtaining the plenary indulgence, particularly during this Jubilee Year.

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER JOSEPH

Three times St. Paul speaks of grace God has bestowed on us. The Holy Father used part of this as start of his Jubilee letter. This is a year we rejoice in our salvation, a year of pilgrimage as a sign of response to the word that has been made manifest to us.

We come to the Divine Physician, in the presence of the Lord, to be healed interiorly and sometimes exteriorly as well. He is restoring all in the depths of their being. Come with faith. He is the Lord who has bestowed upon us all the graces and blessings. Call to mind someone in your family who needs a spiritual healing.

FATHER RAY BOURQUE'S BIBLE STUDY

Father Ray distributed a handout to which he referred. He spoke on Charity which is a gift of Baptism, gift of piety and wisdom.

He said the sacraments are to build love, charisms are gifts, and the Eucharist is the best gift we have. The Holy Spirit produces love, joy and peace. We should exercise the love of God. How often do you say "I love you".

Father then spoke on the fruit of Charity. We can love the way God loves. God has poured His spirit in us so that the Holy Spirit can love for us. We cannot do this on our own.

Perfect love is to love with divine charity - a gift from Heaven.

In sin, there is a lie - an act of non-love. When we sin, we listen to the liar. We have the ability and power to love God. Our love is not pure. Complete joy is only when the love is there. Peace is the security of loving and being loved.

When there is fear of the Lord, sin disappears.

SUNDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY - FATHER AUGUSTINE

At this moment the Lord, Jesus Christ, gazes upon us with great love. He gazes into each of us in the soul and heart. Return the gaze. When we look at the eyes of Jesus from the cross, they seem invisible. Love cuts us to the heart and leads us to repentance. Jesus floods us with divine love which leads us to be able to suffer any pain or suffering, and we become conformed to the cross. We become instruments of the salvation of souls. The Blessed Mother's suffering becomes in union with Christ.

God is rich in mercy. God gave His only Son on the cross - a gift of the Father.

We can experience in our lives our own type of scourging, i.e. illness, failures, disappointments, betrayals, etc. - like a lash one after the other. We can be torn down, but it can increase our love for Jesus. His love never wavers, is never bitter. He does this willingly for our salvation. As we betray Jesus, He continues to love us. Christian love is supernatural and not known in other religions. A supernatural love which is unique to the Passion of Jesus Christ.

In the Garden of Agony, His cup of suffering for the sins of mankind and the physical tortures He had to endure was total invincible love. He continued to submit to His Father's will. Jesus experienced great anxiety and fear. The mental agony of the Lord far surpassed the physical - yet - Thy will be done.

Father described in detail the sweating of blood in the Garden, which can happen medically, and then described the scourging. Jesus loves us and the executors through all of this. Can we receive our blows as Jesus received His? We should never let bitterness take hold and control us. Continue to victory choosing charity over hatred. Use our suffering for the salvation of souls, especially our own. Ask the Lord to sanctify our suffering to save souls.