Thank God for St. Joseph, St. Joseph the Worker. When they questioned Jesus’ wisdom and power, they called Him the carpenter’s son. Because of this, St. Joseph’s glory is hidden while on earth.

God gave St. Joseph the graces to be the father of Jesus. He was a just man who properly influenced Jesus. Jesus submitted to Joseph’s parental authority. To be just, St. Joseph was lined up completely with God’s will.

St. Joseph was a hard worker, but he also knew how to rest. As God rested on the seventh day of creation, St. Joseph rested. It is a sin to always work and to never rest. Work is a cooperation with God. Before we begin our work, we should lift our work to God. Our work may be a success in God’s eyes while it is a failure in the eyes of the world. Sometimes we do not see the fruits of our work. In our morning offering, we give all of our works of that day to God.

St. Joseph’s job was to protect Jesus, just as he protected Jesus from King Herod. St. Joseph was the guardian of our Redeemer. St. Joseph died before Jesus was crucified, otherwise he would have been at the cross with Mary. When St. Joseph died, Jesus was on one side and Mary was on the other. He is the Patron of a Happy Death.

Ask St. Joseph to teach us to work and to pray and to rest.

The Acts of the Apostles is the continuation of the Church.

Peter was in charge. Peter and John were sent to Samaria and Judea and other places to preach about Jesus. The Church was growing. The Holy Spirit was working. This is the year of the Holy Spirit, and we are already in May. We should be growing in the Holy Spirit everyday.

Peter and John were journeying all over the place. Peter cures a man who had been bedridden for eight years, and in a neighboring town, Peter raises a woman from the dead. Jesus had said, "What I have done, you will do." Peter is a missionary. Miracles have impacts.

God chose each of us before the world began to be holy, blameless and full of love. God wants to work through us to change the world.

In the gospel reading of the miracle of the fishes and loaves, the people believed because of the miracle. It was a sign for them. The crowds grew larger. Jesus told the people that it was not Moses who gave them bread, it was His father who gave the real bread from heaven. "I am the bread of life," Jesus said. "No one who comes to me will ever be hungry or thirsty." If you believe, you will have eternal life. You must believe Jesus Christ is the bread of life. It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. My words are spirit and life, said Jesus. You will come alive if you believe the word. Catholics need to be alive with the word. Pray for those who do not believe. Many souls are going to hell because there is no one to pray for them.

Next year is the year of the Father. "No one comes to me unless it is granted by the Father."

Some of Jesus’ followers left Him. When Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave, Peter answered, "To whom shall we go?" We do not leave for the same reason, there is no one else.

But what is the proof that you are Christians? We prove we are Christians everyday by the way we live. We get our power from the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist. Other Christians have no power because they are not open to the Holy Spirit.

Father spoke briefly of the blessing of the bells ceremony at the new monastery. The singing out of the bells will be a new beginning of the Church.

RESURRECTION - The Season of Easter

The bad news precedes the good news. There are two things we have no control over: 1) cannot take away guilt we bear for sins we have committed. We can rationalize it, but it remains. 2) Death - Unless the Lord returns before we die, we will die.

There are ways we can react:

• go mad with the strain and stress;
• escape - distract ourselves to other things such as drinking, entertainment, or working to excess;
• living a pessimistic life - become indifferent, less human, or detached;
• false optimism - refusing to face reality.

Jesus has power over sin. He can take away sin; he can take away our guilt. Jesus forgives our sins. Turn to Him and trust in Him.

Hope is how we face death - our own death and the death of our loved ones. Jesus has power over death. Our faith in Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope over death.

We have in our lives met Jesus Christ, but often we forget that we met Him. But, this is proof to us that He is risen, He is resurrected. We have met the Lord in many ways. He is not absent in the dark times of our lives.

Everything is not always as it seems. The same is true in our own spiritual life. One act of trust during dryness or darkness is greater than at other times.

Our Lord said to Sister Faustina, if you do not believe my words, believe my wounds. Trust my wounds. Mistrust wounds Jesus’ heart. Ask the Lord for much; do not ask for little. Have complete trust; complete abandonment in the Lord. The Lord is pleased with souls that have complete trust in Him. Graces of the Lord’s mercy are necessary for perseverance. Trust in the Lord. He will not abandon you.

Do not love God because of any reward you will receive. Love God for God because He loved us first. Misery does not hinder God’s love. God’s mercy is so great that it is something we cannot imagine. A peace is being given out from the monstrance. Cling to Him even where it is the hardest to cling to Him. Hope allows us to see the Lord.

Confession is the taking away of guilt. We receive the grace of forgiveness in confession.

Jesus loves as a bridegroom. This love that Jesus has is awesome. Jesus loves with a flame of love. This spirit of love gathers the Father and the Son together and also gathers us. Jesus’ love is divine and absolute. If we prefer this world to Jesus’ love, we are to be scorned. His love is stronger than death. Nothing compares to the infinite love of Jesus.

We are to hear, to accept, to live and to proclaim the Holy Spirit. St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. But most people believe the Trinity is the son. The questions we must answer are: what did you hear; of what you heard, what did you accept; of what you accepted, what did you live; and of what you lived, what did you proclaim.

Seven things about the Holy Spirit come from the Creed:

• Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
• the Holy Spirit is the Lord,
• the Holy Spirit is the giver of life,
• the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son,
• the Holy Spirit is worshipped,
• the Holy Spirit is glorified, and 
• the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets.

The Holy Spirit will be with you always. But you can lose the Holy Spirit through mortal sin. How can people lose the Holy Spirit and it does not bother them? Because they do not know about sacramental life.

The biggest problem today is LIES. We buy lies. Every single sin we commit is based on a lie. God said I will send you the spirit of truth. Pius IX said the biggest problem is ignorance of the people. The Holy Spirit will teach us everything. The Holy Spirit is my teacher and He will remind us.

In the Trinity the Father is the creator, the Son is the savior/redeemer and the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier.

The biggest thing God can do for us is to call us home and glorify us.

The word Lord is sacred. In Moses’ time it was a word that was not spoken.

The Holy Spirit is the second Paraclete, Jesus was the first. The Holy Spirit is the love from the Father to the Son and vice versa.

The Holy spirit is referred to as: the spirit of love, the breath of life, the finger of God, the hand of God, the dove of peace, the fire, the cloud, the communicator and the spouse of Mary.

When Jesus finished His work on earth, God sent the Holy Spirit to complete Jesus’ work here on earth. The Holy Spirit is to finish taking away sin. The Holy Spirit is to see to it that the word of God is to be understood with the same meaning.

"In this Thy bitter Passion, O Lord, think of me."

Jesus is the good shepherd. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we proclaim His death until He comes again.

Jesus’ passion and death are an act of reality in our struggle for holiness. There is an error held by many that Jesus does not hurt anymore, that the suffering and death have been canceled and erased by His resurrection.

The gospel truth is that the cross intrudes into our lives to remind us of the passion of Jesus. Jesus’ bitter Passion must never be overlooked. The young Christian Church rejoiced that it still suffered violent abuse and persecution.

The resurrection means total victory. Those who survive the trial will be before God’s throne. So we sing our alleluias on earth even if we are a bit off key. We will sing on key and in harmony for all eternity.