Gregory Mussmacher
Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday (11/25): “Take heed that you are not led astray”
Scripture: Luke 21:5-11
I Love You, Lord, sung by Angelina EWTN
May 29, 2009, 11:35 am
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I Love You, Lord, sung by Angelina EWTN
Gregory Mussmacher, “The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and in the exaltation after the combat.” Saint Padre Pio
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The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
May 29, 2009, 11:33 am
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The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
Gregory Mussmacher, “You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.” — St. John Vianney
The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
We need them in life’s early morning,
we need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of friendship,
we seek them when tasting life’s woes.
At the altar each day we behold them,
and the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their
greatness; their dignity stands all alone;
And when we are tempted and wander
to pathways of shame and sin,
It’s the hand of a priest that will absolve
us—-not once, but again and again;
And when we are taking life’s partner,
other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite
us is the beautiful hand of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better than
to ask Him to guide thee and bless?
When the hour of death comes upon us
may our courage and strength be increased.
By seeing raised over us in anointing the
beautiful hands of a priest!
Author UnknownSphere: Related Content
John 21:15-19
May 29, 2009, 11:31 am
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John 21:15-19
Gregory Mussmacher, Christ said, “I am the Truth”; he did not say “I am the custom.” — St. Toribio
Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (5/29): “Do you love Jesus more than these?”
Scripture: John 21:15-19
Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (5/29): “Do you love Jesus more than these?”
Scripture: John 21:15-19
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Meditation: Do you want the fire of God’s love to burn in your heart? John the evangelist tells us that God is love (1 John 4:16). His love is unconditional, unmerited, and without limit. It edurings forever. It’s the beginning and the end – it’s the reason God created us wants us to be united with him – and it’s the essence of what is means to be a Christian – one who knows God’s love and forgiveness and who loves God in return with all one’s heart, mind, soul, and body. God’s love heals and transforms our lives and frees us from fear, selfishness, and greed. It draws us to the very heart of God and it compels us to give to him the best we have and all we possess – our gifts, our time, our resources, our full allegiance, and our very lives. Paul the Apostle tells us that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given us (Romans 5:5). What can quench such love? Certainly indifference, disbelief, and rejection of God and his word.
Why did Jesus question Peter’s love and fidelity three times in front of the other apostles? It must have caused Peter pain and sorrow since he had publicly denied Jesus three times. Now Peter, full of remorse and humility, unequivocally stated that he loved his master and was willing to serve him whatever it might cost. When Jesus asks him “do you love me more than these?” Jesus may have pointed to the boats, nets and catch of fish. He may have challenged Peter to abandon his work as a fisherman for the task of shepherding God’s people. Jesus also may have pointed to the other disciples and to Peter’s previous boast: “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). Peter now makes no boast or comparison but humbly responds: “You know I love you.”
The Lord calls us, even in our weakness and sin, to love him above all else. Augustine in his Confessions wrote: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient and so new. Late have I loved you! …You shone your Self upon me to drive away my blindness. You breathed your fragrance upon me… and in astonishment I drew my breath…now I pant for you! I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst for you. You touched me! – and I burn to live within your peace.” (Confessions 10:27) Nothing but our sinful pride and wilfulness can keep us from the love of God. It is a free gift, unmerited and beyond payment. We can never outmatch God in giving love. He loved us first and our love for him is a response to his exceeding graciousness and mercy towards us. Do you allow God’s love to change and transform your heart?
“Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love and remove everything that is unloving, unkind, ungrateful, unholy, and not in accord with your will.”
Psalm 103:1-2,11-12,19-20
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word!
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Jesus
May 28, 2009, 11:15 am
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Gregory Mussmacher, another great song sung by Angelina from EWTN!!
The Miracle Prayer
Lord Jesus, I come before Thee, just as I am, I am sorry for my sins, I repent of my sins, please forgive me. In Thy Name, I forgive all others for what they have done against me. I renounce Satan, the evil spirits and all their works. I give Thee my entire self, Lord Jesus, I accept Thee as my Lord God and Savior. Heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul, and spirit.
Come Lord Jesus, cover me with Thy Precious Blood, and fill me with Thy Holy Spirit, I love Thee Lord Jesus, I praise Thee Lord Jesus, I thank Thee Jesus, I shall follow Thee every day of my life. Amen.
Mary, My Mother, Queen of Peace, all the Angels and Saints, please help me. Amen.
Say this prayer faithfully, no matter how you feel. When you come to the point where you sincerely mean each word with all your heart, Jesus will change your whole life in a very special way. You will see.Sphere: Related Content
Padre Pio and Our Lady
May 28, 2009, 11:13 am
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Padre Pio and Our Lady
Gregory Mussmacher, “Do you not see the Madonna always beside the tabernacle?” Padre Pio
Padre Pio and Our Lady
Padre Pio and Our Lady
” ‘Love our Lady. Recite the Rosary. May the Blessed Mother of God reign supreme over your hearts.’ These were the messages Padre Pio sent out continually to his spiritual sons and daughters near and far. This was the order he issued and the legacy he left to all, springing from his own ardent love for the Mother of God.
“His love for Our Blessed Lady was a tender love, the love of a son who believes and hopes and trusts. It was no sentimental piety expressed in fine phrases, but a deep love resulting from constant meditation which gradually influenced his whole life. His own mother . . . was deeply devoted to Mary the Mother of God. In the little rural centre in which he was born, devotion to the Madonna has been an outstanding characteristic of the people’s religion for many centuries. In this respect the Pietrelcinese share a heritage common to the whole of southern Italy. Shrines to Our Blessed Lady, honoured under a great variety of titles, are to be found all over the region.” [Padre Pio: His Life and Mission, Mary E. Ingoldsby, p. 127.]
As a young boy Francesco Forgione made pilgrimages with others from his town to various Marian shrines, including Our Lady of Pompeii.
The image above was carried in procession by the people of the region every year, the highlight of a festival.
We have a number of charming vignettes about his devotion to Our Lady under various titles, from those who knew the Saint:
When Francesco was leaving for the Capuchin novitiate, the singular gift his mother bestowed upon him was a large Rosary, which is maintained in the archives of the Postulation in San Giovanni Rotondo. He cherished this Rosary which he carried all his life, along with a picture of “our own Madonna” as he referred to Our Lady Liberatrix. The title Our Lady Liberatrix (Madonna della Libera) goes back very far in the history of that region. [Ibid., p. 128.] In the seventh century, when the little dukedom of Benevento was besieged by the Byzantine Emperor Constans II, the saintly local bishop who is known today as San Barbato led his people in prayer to Our Blessed Lady with the intention of freeing (liberare) the city from the fury of the Greeks. Their prayer was heard and San Barbato spread devotion to Our Lady under the title of Liberatrix. “In his youth Padre Pio venerated the Mother of God under this title, which has special import in Pietrelcina even today. The little town celebrates a feast in honour of its Madonna more than once during the year, in grateful thanks for past favours.” [Ibid.]
In 1854 Pietrelcina was ravaged by cholera. At the beginning of December it seemed as if the population would be wiped out completely. “Dozens were dying each day,” says the local historian. ” [Ibid.] On the third day of that month the whole population gathered at the church to pray at the feet of Our Lady of Liberatrix. Then her statue was carried through the streets because the people were convinced that would flee before her image, which is exactly what happened: “from that day the disease claimed no more victims and the people were convinced that Our Lady of the Libera had obtained this grace for their town”. [Ibid.]
Under this title, the Mother of God has often come to the assistance of her petitioners in Pietrelcina, water during times of drought so that the crops would have a good yield, and the protection of the fields from hail-storms.
A most special grace from Our Lady occurred at the turn of the last century.
The day is Palm Sunday 1906, and the church in the castle district was packed for high Mass at noon. To everyone’s surprise the sun-brushed sky turned black as ink, as if night had come. A tempest of a thunderstorm struck with such fury that the parishioners were not able to hear the priest’s words—-moreover the storm came in the form of not just water, but clay and stones! They were so frightened that they cried out and wept for it appeared as if the end of the world was upon them. Then they began to pray most fervently to our Lord and His Blessed Mother. As suddenly as the storm had erupted, it subsided, the sun came out and everyone could walk back home. The explanation of this phenomenon only reached Pietrelcina some days later. They later learned that the stones and other debris which pelted the church was formed of ashes and cinders, from a violent eruption of Vesuvius over fifty miles distance.
“Although there is feasting and music in the piazza, including fireworks without which no southern Italian fiesta would be complete, the feast of Our Lady Liberatrix is an essentially religious celebration with a preparatory novena which is always well attended. In Padre Pio’s letters, written during his prolonged stay in Pietrelcina as a young priest, there is frequent mention of this celebration and Padre Agostino, his Confessor at the time, was invited more than once to preach for the occasion.” [Ibid., p.129]
The wooden statue of Our Lady Liberatrix, the work of a seventeenth-century Neapolitan artist, was formerly venerated in a church that lay just outside Pietrelcina, which was destroyed by a landslide; the statue was removed to the parochial church where it can be seen today. It was restored and repainted in 1965 and on July 17,1966 the Vatican Chapter assigned to it a golden crown in recognition of the part it had played for centuries in the people’s devotion to Mary. In a solemn ceremony on August 6, 1966, the crown was placed on the head of the Madonna by Mgr. Raffaele Calabria, Archbishop of Benevento. Padre Pio, in his friary at San Giovanni Rotondo many miles away, rejoiced along with his townsfolk. Some of the older folk in Pietrelcina tell how they used to see him as “a young Capuchin priest of thoughtful and ascetical appearance, transfigured before the statue of his beloved Madonna” as he prayed there each day during his enforced residence at home. [Ibid., p. 130.]
Our Saint was blessed with a deep contemplative knowledge of Mary’s role in our salvation, the closer he felt to her, the closer he said he felt to jesus, her Son. In a letter he sent May 6, 1913 to Padre Agostino he wrote:
“This most tender Mother, in her great mercy, wisdom and goodness, has been pleased to punish me in a most exalted manner by pouring so many and such great graces into my heart that when I am in her presence and in that of Jesus I am compelled to exclaim: ‘Where am I? Who is this who is near me?’ I am all aflame although there is no fire. I feel myself held fast and bound to the Son by means of this Mother, without seeing the chains which bind me so tightly.” [Ibid.]
His devotion to the Mother of God can best be said to be continued, uninterrupted prayer, especially the Rosary, some days he managed 200 decades.
Padre Pietro Tartaglia, Guardian of the friary in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1978, said:
“I can see him today as he appeared to me when I was a youngster. It was beautiful to see him there in the silence of his cell when we Capuchin aspirants went to him for Confession. The dim light gave a mystical touch to his emaciated but radiant countenance. Near him was . . . a little statue of Our Lady and he spoke to us about her and taught us to love her. At a certain hour he used to walk in the friary garden, absorbed in his sufferings and his love while the beads slipped through the fingers of his wounded hands. And how full and ardent was his voice when he recited the Angelus with the others.” [Ibid., pp. 130-131.]
“From his earliest years Padre Pio cherished a tender filial love for the Blessed Virgin honoured as Our Lady of Pompeii and on many occasions he went to her shrine near the ruined city. In 1901, at the age of fourteen, he made a pilgrimage there with seven of his schoolmates accompanied by their teacher. His mother does not seem to have been very happy about that trip and complained about it in a letter to her husband who had emigrated to America to earn some extra money for his son’s studies. When his father wrote to young Francesco from America the boy answered him in order to justify his trip to Pompeii: ‘As regards my going to Pompeii, you are quite right. However, you ought to remember that next year, please God, all holidays and amusements will be over for me when I abandon this life to embrace a better one.’ ” [Ibid., pp. 134.]
Even while he served in the army as a young friar, he took every opportunity to pay a visit to Pompeii from Naples where he was stationed, to pray to Our Lady. When he left army service for a six months’ convalescence in 1917, he went again to thank Our Lady of Pompeii for this grace. He made one novena after another novena for a return to conventual life, though still obliged by ill health to stay in his own home. He also prayed to her for what he called his “speedy departure”, by which he meant his death. He asked his directors and to others bound to him by spiritual ties to say novenas to Our Lady of Pompeii for his intentions. It was to the Virgin Mother of God honoured under this title that he also directed his fervent prayers to be finally exempt from the military, which he found was both physical and spiritual torture. At last he was granted a return to his community and a discharge from the army, but the “speedy departure” would not be for half a century. In 1968, when he knew that he was dying, it was to Our Lady of Pompeii that he turned, to thank her from the depths of his heart.
Meanwhile, in our narrative, after having briefly looked forward in Padre Forgione’s life with the Mother of God, it is still 1917; World War I is drawing to a cessation; Our Blessed Lady appears in Fatima. St. Pio has experienced the hardship of life in a military barracks. Now he meditates deeply on the Fatima message, “and in response to Our Lady’s invitation prayed without ceasing that the Divine mercy might prevail over the Divine justice.” [Ibid., p. 135.] No one of Catholic faith and with their wits about them can deny the connection between the apparitions in Fatima and the justice of God—–and what is just as certain, of that between this justice and the victim state, the state of those souls who offer themselves in reparation for the sins of men against God, to appease His Divine Majesty. It was through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima that St. Pio obtained a true miracle for himself, he who was the inspiration and pathway of so many miraculous graces for others. He had been ill with pleurisy since May of 1959 and the doctors had discovered a lung tumor, so that his life was in mortal danger. It was not coincidence that it was then that the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima was being transported throughout Italy in the Peregrinatio Mariae or Rosary Caravan. “On August 5, in the last days of the pilgrimage, the statue was brought to San Giovanni Rotondo in a helicopter, which circled over the Capuchin friary. Before the image departed, Padre Pio addressed a fervent prayer from his sick-bed to Our Blessed Lady in the following words: ‘My dear Mother, since your arrival in Italy I have been reduced to helplessness by this illness, and now that you are leaving have you nothing to give me?’ At once he felt a mysterious strength invade his body and he exclaimed to his confreres: ‘I’m cured!’ Shortly afterwards a local paper in Foggia published an article asking why the Pilgrim Virgin should have been taken to San Giovanni Rotondo and not to the famous shrine of St. Michael in Monte Santangelo higher up on Mount Gargano, a place of pilgrimage for centuries. When one of the Capuchins drew Padre Pio’s attention to this complaint, he replied quite simply: ‘Our Lady came here because she wanted to cure Padre Pio!’ ” [Ibid.]
He once said , “Always hold the weapon of Mary tight in your hand. It will bring you victory over your enemies.” [From the Housetops, p. 13.] Our blessed friar was able to do more than one thing at a time and well, thus it was possible for him to recite so many Rosaries, a set of beads being a permanent fixture in his hands. He was often seen in conversation while the beads were filing one by one through his fingers. He paid tribute to Our Lady once by saying, “May Mary fill your heart with the flowers and fragrance of ever-fresh virtues, and place her maternal hand on your head. Always keep close to our Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea that must be crossed, in order to reach the shores of eternal splendor in the kingdom of dawn.” [Ibid.] Padre Pio exclaimed that those who thought they could go through life without the assistance of the Blessed Virgin were foolish. She would come to him many times when he had special need of her. A priest asked him if she ever appeared to him and Padre pio replied “Why not ask me instead if she ever leaves my room?”
Our holy card image is not in good shape, but we managed to remove the worst stains and cracks. This is one of the loveliest of the old type of paper holy cards in color; as far as I know it is no longer available for sale. I did an extensive search on the web with three major engines. If it is available, it is going by another title, for whatever reason. I bypassed E-Bay for practical reasons.Sphere: Related Content
John 17:20-26
May 28, 2009, 11:11 am
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John 17:20-26
Gregory Mussmacher, “Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart.” Padre Pio
Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday (5/28): “May they become perfectly one”
Scripture: John 17:20-26
20 “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Meditation: Do you pray as Jesus did for the unity of all Christians? The distinctive mark of Jesus’disciples is their love and unity. “How good and delightful it is when brethren dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). Jesus’ high priestly prayer at the last supper concludes with the petition for Christian unity among all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus prays for all men and women who will come after him and follow him as his disciples. In a special way Jesus prays here for us that as members of his body the church we would be one as he and his Father is one. The unity of Jesus and his Father is a unity of love and obedience and a unity of personal relationship. Because Jesus loved us first and united us in baptism we are called to live in a unity of love. Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his sacrifice shows the great love and trust he has in his beloved disciples. He knows they would abandon him in his hour of trial, yet he entrusted to them the great task of spreading his name throughout the world and to the end of the ages. The Lord entrust us with the same mission – to make him known and loved by all. Jesus died and rose again that all might be one as he and the Father are one. Do you love and accept all baptized Christians as your brothers and sisters in Christ?
“Lord God, have mercy on your people and heal the divisions in the body of Christ. May all Christian people throughout the world attain the unity for which Jesus prayed on the eve of his sacrifice. Renew in us the power of the Spirit that we may be a sign of that unity and a means of its growth. Increase in us a fervent love for all our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Psalm 97:1-2,6-7,9
1 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are round about him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
9 For thou, O LORD, art most high over all the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods.
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Luke 21:5-11
May 28, 2009, 11:10 am
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus help me be the best christian I can and thank you for all the love you have shown my faily and myself, even though I do not deserve any of it!!
Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday (11/25): “Take heed that you are not led astray”
Scripture: Luke 21:5-11
Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday (11/25): “Take heed that you are not led astray”
Scripture: Luke 21:5-11
5 And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!’ and, `The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
Meditation: How would you respond if someone prophesied that your church or place of worship would be destroyed? In 1972 a violent earthquake ripped through the center of Managua and destroyed the great cathedral church. This was only the beginning of the troubles for the tiny nation and Christian community of Nicaragua which suffered great turmoil and loss in the civil war that ensued for more than a decade. Out of the ashes of destruction and the ravages of communism has emerged a humbler and more purified church. Jesus foretold many signs of God’s action and judgment. To the great consternation of the Jews, Jesus prophesied the destruction of their temple at Jerusalem. The Jewish people took great pride in their temple, a marvel of the ancient world. The foretelling of this destruction was a dire judgment in itself. They sought Jesus for a sign that would indicate when this would occur. Jesus admonished them to not seek signs but rather to seek God’s kingdom. There will be plenty of signs – such as wars, famines, diseases, tidal waves and earthquakes – pointing to God’s ultimate judgment.
Jesus’ prophecy is a two-edged sword, because it points not only to God’s judgment, but also to his saving action and mercy. Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the dire consequences for all who would reject him and his saving message. While the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple was determined (it was razed by the Romans in 70 A.D.), there remained for its inhabitants a narrow open door leading to deliverance. Jesus says: “I am the door; whoever enters by me will be saved” (John 10:9). Jesus willingly set his face toward Jerusalem, knowing that he would meet betrayal, rejection, and death on a cross. His death on the cross, however, brought about freedom, peace, and victory over sin and death – not only for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but for all – both Jew and Gentile alike – who would accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Do you know the peace and security of a life submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ?
An American judge, named Robert H. Bork, wrote a book a few decades ago entitled, Slouching Towards Gomorrah. His message sounded an alarm about the moral crisis and decay of culture which he saw in Western society. We often don’t recognize the moral crisis and spiritual conflict of our age, until something “shakes us up” to the reality of our present condition. The reward for doing what is right and just and the penalty for sin and wrong-doing are not always experienced in this life; but they are sure to come in the day of judgment. The Lord Jesus tells us that there will be persecution, suffering, and difficulties in this age until he comes again at the end of the world. God intends our anticipation of his final judgment to be a powerful deterrent to wrongdoing. God extends grace and mercy to all who will heed his call and his warning. Do you take advantage of this season of grace and mercy to seek God’s kingdom and to pursue his will?
“Lord Jesus, your grace and mercy abounds even in the midst of turmoil and destruction. Increase my hunger for your kingdom and help me to be faithful to your word. May nothing, not even the fear of death or the loss of all that I have, deter me from seeking you and the coming of your kingdom with hope and joy.”
Psalm 119:25-32
25 My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to thy word!
26 When I told of my ways, thou didst answer me; teach me thy statutes!
27 Make me understand the way of thy precepts, and I will meditate on thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to thy word!
29 Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me thy law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness, I set thy ordinances before me.
31 I cleave to thy testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou enlargest my understanding!
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Mark 16:9-15
May 28, 2009, 11:06 am
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
Mark 16:9-15
Gregory Mussmacher, Dear Jesus please protect me this day and give me the strength to endure the false allegations lodged against me!! I also wish You to bless my family, friends, and my beautiful wife, Andrea my constant companion!! Thank You lord for blessing me with such terrific friends and family!! Amen
Daily Reading & Meditation
Saturday (4/18): “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation”
Scripture: Mark 16:9-15
9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
Meditation: The first to see the risen Lord was not Peter or one of the apostles, but a woman noted for her demonized living! She had been forgiven much, and loved her Master greatly. She was first at the tomb to pay her respects. Unfortunately for the disciples, they would not believe her account of the Risen Master. Jesus had to scold his apostles because of their unbelief and stubborn hearts. Are you like the apostles or like Mary – slow to believe or quick to run to Jesus? Do you doubt because you do not see? The Lord makes his presence known to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. He gives us the gift of faith to know him personally and to understand the mystery of his death and rising. Do you believe his word and do you listen to his voice?
After his appearance to his beloved apostles, Jesus commissions them to go and preach the gospel to the whole creation. Their task is to proclaim the good news of salvation, not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations. This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole church. All believers have been given a share in this task – to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world. We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Do you witness to others the joy of the gospel and the hope of the resurrection?
“Lord Jesus Christ, increase my faith and hope in the power of your resurrection. And give me joy and courage to be your witness to others and to boldly speak of what you have done to save us from sin and death.”
Psalm 118;1, 14-21
1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Hark, glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank thee that thou hast answered me and hast become my salvation.
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Friday, April 17, 2009
John 21:1-14
Gregory Mussmacher, Dear Mother Mary,let the truth be heard and believed by those whom that have been deceived by liars and people with evil intent. Please allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within me and give me strength through this horrible situation that I have been placed. Watch over my family and bless my wife, Andrea for being by my side in this dark hour! Amen
Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (4/17): “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tibe’ri-as”
Scripture: John 21:1-14
1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tibe’ri-as; and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathan’a-el of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zeb’edee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Meditation: Why didn’t the apostles immediately recognize the Lord when he greeted them at the Sea of Tiberias? John gives us a clue. He states that Peter decided to return to his home district of Galilee, very likely so he could resume his fishing career. Peter was discouraged and didn’t know what to do after the tragedy of Jesus’ death! He went back to his previous career out of despair and uncertainty. The other apostles followed him back to Galilee. When was the last time Peter was commanded to let down his net after a futile night of fishing? It was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee when the Lord dramatically approached Peter in his fishing boat after a futile night of fishing and commanded him to lower his nets (see Luke 5:4-11). After the miraculous catch, Jesus told Peter that he would be ‘catching people” for the kingdom of God. Now Jesus repeats the same miracle. John, the beloved disciple, is the first to recognize the Lord. Peter impulsively leaps from the boat and runs to the Lord. Do you run to the Lord when you meet setbacks, disappointments, or trials? The Lord is ever ready to renew us in faith and to give us fresh hope in his promises.
Skeptics who disbelieve the resurrection say the disciples only saw a vision of Jesus. The gospels, however, give us a vivid picture of the reality of the resurrection. Jesus went out of his way to offer his disciples various proofs of his resurrection – that he is real and true flesh, not just a spirit or ghost. In his third appearance to the apostles, after Jesus performed the miraculous catch of fish, he prepared a breakfast and ate with them. Peter’s prompt recognition of the Master and exclamation, It is the Lord! stands in sharp contrast to his previous denial of his Master during the night of arrest. The Lord Jesus reveals himself to each of us as we open our hearts to receive his word. Do you recognize the Lord’s presence in your life and do you receive his word with faith?
“Lord Jesus, you are the Resurrection and the Life. Increase my faith in the power of your resurrection that I may never doubt your word nor stray from your presence.”
Psalm 118:1-4,22-27
1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech thee, give us success!
26 Blessed be he who enters in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar!
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thank You Everyone
Gregory Mussmacher, “Good works are links that form a chain of love.”
Mother Teresa
I will carry my cross but not alone!!!!
I am out of the hospital and home now. I am remain cautiously optimistic and am uncertain what the future will bring. I do know that with God, Mother Mary, all the angels and saints and my wonderful family and friends supporting me I can get through this very tough time in my life. I will not give up and continue to fight against those who wish to do me harm.
Andrea and I want to thank everyone for the support and great things they did for us while I was in the hospital getting help. I can never truly put into words the gratefullness I feel.
I especially want to thank my Mom, Dad, myInlaws and my beautiful and faithful wife, Andrea.
Thanks Again and God Bless All Of You!!
Dear Jesus I pray that the truth is heard over the lies and the truth is believed and not the lies that are being reported!!Sphere: Related Content
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Friday, April 3, 2009
Pray for me please!!
Gregory Mussmacher,I need everyone’s prayers, I am in a bad way emotionally and feel I am at the end of my rope. I don’t know if I can withstand the false allegations and lies that are being spread about me.
I know I should be strong for my wife and children’s sake but I am losing my inside battle to want to stay alive.
Every man has there breaking point and I am afraid I am at mine. I pray to Jesus and Mother Mary for strength to endure the lies that are being slung against me.
I love my wife and kids very much and will miss them when I am gone and I know they will miss me too.Sphere: Related Content
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
John 8:31-42, 51-59 and Father Leo’s E-Mail Blast
Gregory Mussmacher, ” God, loving you is the wisest thing we can do. Serving your church is one of the best things we can do to help improve society. Praying for guidance is the only way we will know the difference between foolishness and truth. Help us O Lord to grow in understanding our call in life, even if others will consider us foolish. With the prayers of the angels and saints, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.” Father Leo
Foolishness!
This April Fool’s Day, this priest isn’t fooling around!
Foolishness can either come from the world’s judgment or from God’s. Consider this quote from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18)
The fact is, people who choose not to believe in God may consider the doctrines, practices, and disciplines of believers – and even believers themselves as “foolish.” On the other side, people of faith can actually be foolish if they are uncharitable and dismiss people without trying to help them know God’s wisdom.
At a recent mission at St. John Neumann Church, located in picturesque Berlin, Maryland, I was edified to see so many people not fooling around with their faith. This mission, like all my mission experiences, give me great hope, not just for the Catholic Faith, but also for the Grace Before Meals movement!
Pastor, Fr. Protack addressing large crowds for every night of the mission and also at the dinner presentation. The St. Paul Penne and Pollo Pasta Recipe will be posted soon. Stay Tuned
At this dynamic parish, the pastor has an MC program, similar to what I had at my former parish. It’s a program that encourages young men to consider a priestly vocation by allowing them to continue altar serving beyond childhood and thus facilitating their growth as potential liturgical leaders. These guys were smart, talented, and unafraid to grow closer to God, even though it may not be considered “cool” by young people standards.
Kenny, one of the MCs – a talented musician and golfer! He’d make a great priest!
During one of the dinners, Kenny joined the priests for a fabulous meal and conversation. It was like a Grace Before Meals episode. We talked about vocations and how to prayerfully discern God’s will, even if people think it’s foolish. The pastor told the story of a mother who actually said her boys would become priests only over her dead body. As a priest, that hurts.
This unfortunate antagonism or judgment of foolishness is everywhere. It’s true for lawyers and Hollywood stars. Msgr. Nalty’s decision to leave a high paying job at a law firm, and Mother Dolores decision to leave acting after playing the leading female role opposite Elvis Presley were considered by many to be utterly foolish.
Msgr. Nalty and Mother Dolores, Holy Trinity Apostolate, Michigan.
Our saints prove that being a “fool for Christ” is really an act of wisdom. St. Francis of Assisi was looked down upon, even by members of his own family, because he wanted to serve God, especially in the poor.
St. Philip Neri did all sorts of tricks, which many thought were foolish, just to get people to listen to his message about God. I wonder if he was willing to cook for them?
Me standing next to a cut out of St. Philip Neri in his museum room.
You may think I’m only talking about becoming a priest, nun, or a saint! But there’s unfortunate suspicion even among other Christian Believers!
Meet Dr. Scott Hahn, a renown Scripture Scholar who was branded a fool because he made the very difficult decision to become a Roman Catholic, even though he showed promise of being a one of the leading Presbyterian preachers.
Recently, Dr. Hahn came to Mount St. Mary’s to give a lecture on St. Paul. It was perfect timing because he helped explain the passage I quoted above about the “foolishness” of the Cross. He offered so much by way of spiritual insights – a scriptural all you can eat. Despite what many considered a foolish decision, his entry into the Catholic Church has been one of the biggest blessings for me. I still remember hearing his personal conversion story and how it aided me in my own personal conversion and vocational discernment. His decision couldn’t be that foolish because it helped me wise up and listen to God more in prayer.
One thing he said that stuck with me: The foolishness of God is wiser than all earthly wisdom put together. Because God’s “foolishness” is based on His love for us.
The fact is love makes us do all sorts of foolish things. And the Cross, which we celebrate in a unique way during Lent, seemed like the biggest failure in all of world history. But God’s “foolishness” transformed the cross into the most powerful sign of love – a love that is willing to endure suffering for the beloved.
Image of Christ, Scourged and Crowned with Thorns.
In our modern and very information-oriented society, make sure we try not to become so smart we no longer need God or look to Him for guidance and truth. That would be the worst trick we can play on ourselves. It would lead to being a fool, not just one day a year, but suffering foolishness for all eternity.
This April Fool’s Day we recognize how some people choose not to believe in God because faith challenges people to do seemingly foolish things. Some would rather spend time worrying instead of spending time in prayer. Some find it smarter to trust in the stock market than in God. Unfortunately, many want to put their hope in a president, rather than hope in the Omniscient Lord.
But consider how worry doesn’t help us, how the stock market itself needs bailing out, and how many people in government promote foolish laws that kill unborn babies.
With such a track record of foolishness, I can honestly say that I’d gladly be a fool for Christ every day of the year. Because ultimately, the joke won’t be on me!
No Fooling with Tuna!
Some of the members of my ordination class.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of spending time with my brother priests at the Nalty Family Tree Farm in Brewton, Alabama. It’s an annual event that gathers our ordination class (this year celebrating 10 years of priesthood) for fraternity and support. We help each other deal with foolishness – the world’s and our own. This year, Msgr. Nalty and I had a cook off. The secret ingredient: Yellow Fin Tuna!
He made the main course: a sesame crusted tuna, topped with a wisabe aioli, along with a funghi porcini risotto.
I made an appetizer: a sweetened, soy-seared tuna on top of a crisp cucumber, stuffed with a rice pilaf and marinated apples. Our friend, Fr. Bahash was the taste testing judge. When we asked him, “Who won?” He claimed he was the winner – since he had the job of eating these delectables!
See below for the recipe to my showcased tuna. If you make this during a Friday of Lent, your family will know you’re not fooling around either!
Sweetened, Soy-seared Tuna
1 cucumber, pealed (leaving some green around the edges)
½ pound fresh tuna
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ brown sugar
1 lemon
1 bag microwavable rice pilaf
½ apple, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons apple vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt & pepper
Fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
Prepare cucumber cups by pealing sections of the skin off the cucumber. Cut cucumber into 1 ½ inch circles. Use a melon ball scoop to cut out a small bowl in the cucumber.
Prepare the rice and apple filling by heating the rice in the microwave per the instructions. Cut the apple into thin “match stick” sized pieces. Mix with the rice, adding vinegar, salt, and pepper. You can also throw in some fresh cilantro with the rice as well. Put some of the rice combination in the “bowl” of the cucumber cup.
Prepare the fish marinade by combining the soy sauce, brown sugar, and the juice of one lemon until sugar is completely dissolved. Cut the fish so that it is shaped like a long “tube” (as much as possible). Marinate fish for about 20 minutes in the soy, sugar, and lemon mixture. Heat olive oil in non stick pan. When oil reaches smoking point, carefully place fish in the pan to sear all sides. Cook for 1-2 minutes at most on each side of the fish. Remove and let rest before cutting into ½ inch “mini steaks” and placing on top of the cucumber cup filled with the apple flavored rice. Top off with cilantro and some lemon for garnish.
Avoiding Foolishness, Except in Christ
Let us pray: God, loving you is the wisest thing we can do. Serving your church is one of the best things we can do to help improve society. Praying for guidance is the only way we will know the difference between foolishness and truth. Help us O Lord to grow in understanding our call in life, even if others will consider us foolish. With the prayers of the angels and saints, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ask Fr. Leo for fatherly advice.
Any submissions may be used in future Grace Before Meals publications.
Daily Reading & Meditation
Wednesday: (4/1): “The truth will make you free”
Gospel Reading: John 8:31-42
31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, `You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did. 41 You do what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
Old Testament Reading: Daniel 3:14-20,91-92,95
14 Nebuchadnez’zar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed’nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up? 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnez’zar was full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed’nego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
Meditation: What saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed’nego from the fiery furnace? It was their obedience to God’s will. They were willing to suffer death rather than disobey their God. God was with them in the fiery furnace and he rewarded them for their faithfulness. Jesus came to do the will of his Father in heaven. He was not spared the cross which he willing embraced for our sake. His obedience reversed the curse of Adam’s disobedience. The Father crowned him with victory over sin, death, and Satan. Jesus shows us the way to true freedom and victory – by freely submitting our heart, mind, and will to an all-merciful, all-loving, and all-wise God. What the Father offers us in exchange is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans14:17). The happiest, freest people are those who delight in God. Their joy is the pleasure of doing the Father’s will. Do you know the joy of obeying God and trusting in his life-giving word?
The world presents us with a false notion of truth and freedom – “truth is relative so I choose my own criteria for what is true” and worldly freedom means “I can do whatever I please – regardless of what God or others might think.” This is really a mask for slavery to one’s passions and unruly desires. Jesus offers his disciples true freedom – freedom from slavery to pride and arrogance, disbelief and ignorance, selfishness and greed, hatred and revenge, fear and anxiety, despair and depression, and a host of many other hurtful desires and addictions which cripple our lives. The good news is that Jesus Christ has truly set us free from sin and its destructive force in our lives. How is this possible? Through the gift and power of the Holy Spirit we can choose to renounce sin and we can yield to God’s grace which enables us to walk each day and each moment in Christ’s way of love and holiness.
A disciple is a follower and a listener. If we want to follow Christ and live as his disciples, then we must listen to the words of Jesus, with a humble and teachable spirit. As we listen with faith and obey with trust, Christ himself gives us grace – the enabling power of his Holy Spirit – to live, think, and act in the truth of his word. Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to change your life and to set you free to walk in Christ’s way of love and holiness? .
“Lord Jesus, write your words of love and truth upon my heart and make me a diligent student and a worthy disciple of your word.”
Psalm 18: 25-27
25 With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;
26 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure; and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
27 For thou dost deliver a humble people; but the haughty eyes thou dost bring down.
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(c) 20Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday: (4/2): “Before Abraham was, I am”
Gospel Reading: John 8:51-59
51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, `If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. 55 But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 17:3-9
3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
Meditation: Do you submit to Jesus’ words as if your life depended on it? Jesus made a claim which only God can make – “if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.” St. Augustine of Hippo, in his commentary on John’s Gospel, explains this verse: “It means nothing less than he saw another death from which he came to free us – the second death, eternal death, the death of hell, the death of the damned, which is shared with the devil and his angels! This is the real death; the other kind of death is only a passage.” [Tractates on the Gospel of John 43.10-11]
When God established a relationship with Abraham, he offered him an unbreakable “everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:7). Jesus came to fulfill that covenant so that we could know the living God and be united with him both now and for all eternity. God made us to know him and to be united with him and he gives us the gift of faith and understanding so that we may grow in the knowledge of what he has accomplished for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus challenged the people of Israel to accept his word as the very revelation of God himself. His claim challenged the very foundation of their belief and understanding of God. Jesus made a series of claims which are the very foundation of his life and mission. What are these claims? First, Jesus claims unique knowledge of God as the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven. Since he claims to be in direct personal communion with his Father in heaven, he knows everything about the Father. Jesus claims that the only way to full knowledge of the mind and heart of God is through himself. Jesus also claims unique obedience to God the Father. He thinks, lives and acts in the knowledge of his Father’s word. To look at his life is to “see how God wishes me to live.” In Jesus alone we see what God wants us to know and what he wants us to be.
When the Jewish authorities asked Jesus who do you claim to be? he answered, “before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus claims to be timeless and there is only one in the universe who is timeless, namely God. Scripture tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus was not just a man who came, lived, died, and then rose again. He is the immortal timeless One, who always was and always will be. In Jesus we see the eternal God in visible flesh. He is God who became a man for our sake and for our salvation. His death and resurrection make it possible for us to share in his immortality. Do you believe the words of Jesus and obey them with all your heart, mind, and strength?
“Lord Jesus, let your word be on my lips and in my heart that I may walk in the freedom of your everlasting love, truth and goodness.”
Psalm 105:4-9
4 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wonderful works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
John 8:21-30 & “He’s No Friend of Ceasar”
Gregory Mussmacher, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
Mother Teresa
Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday: “He’s No Friend of Caesar!”
Sixth Sunday in Lent 2009
For April 5, 2009
Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, Year B)
Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29
Mark 11:1–11
John 12:12–16
Macedonian icon of
Jesus’s Triumphal Entry
(13th century).
For three years Jesus criss-crossed the villages of Galilee teaching in synagogues, preaching the good news of God’s kingdom, and healing the sick. Thousands of people trampled each other just to get a look at him (Luke 12:1). Some people responded positively, for reasons that were both good and bad. Many others responded with rejection, resistance, and unbelief. To say that at the end of those three years he was a controversial figure would be a gross understatement.
Toward the end of those three years Jesus “resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem.” When he entered that city for the last time, knowing full well that betrayal, persecution and death awaited him, it’s easy to imagine that he was greeted by his largest and most boisterous crowd. His so-called “triumphal entry” on what we call Palm Sunday triggered the beginning of the end for Jesus.
What began on Sunday with a religious procession ended Friday morning with a public display of state terror. Excited children waving palm branches were quickly forgotten when violent mobs shouted death chants. The adulation of the crowds evaporated into abandonment by his closest friends.
Jesus before Pilate,
Seymour E. Bottex, Haiti.
By Good Friday, Jesus’s disciples argued among themselves about who was the greatest, Judas betrayed him, Peter denied knowing him, all his disciples fled (except for the women), and Rome employed all the brutal means at its disposal to crush an insurgent movement — rendition, interrogation, torture, mockery, humiliation, and then a sadistic execution designed as a “calculated social deterrent” (Borg) to any other trouble makers who might challenge imperial authority.
Jesus’s “triumphal entry” into the clogged streets of Jerusalem on Good Friday was a deeply ironic, highly symbolic, and deliberately provocative act. It was an enacted parable or street theater that dramatized his subversive mission and message. He didn’t ride a donkey because he was too tired to walk or because he wanted a good view of the crowds. The Oxford scholar George Caird characterized Jesus’s triumphal entry as more of a “planned political demonstration” than the religious celebration that we sentimentalize today.
Because the Roman state always made a show of force during the Jewish Passover when pilgrims thronged to Jerusalem to celebrate their political liberation from Egypt centuries earlier, Borg and Crossan imagine not one but two political processions entering Jerusalem that Friday morning in the spring of AD 30. In a bold parody of imperial politics, king Jesus descended the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem from the east in fulfillment of Zechariah’s ancient prophecy: “Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5 = Zechariah 9:9). From the west, the Roman governor Pilate entered Jerusalem with all the pomp of state power. Pilate’s brigades showcased Rome’s military might, power and glory. Jesus’s triumphal entry, by stark contrast, was an anti-imperial and anti-triumphal “counter-procession” of peasants that proclaimed an alternate and subversive community that for three years he had called “the kingdom of God.”
The Condemnation of Christ and the Denial of
Saint Peter, early fifth century, British Museum.
Jesus was executed for three reasons, says Luke: “We found this fellow subverting the nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King” (Luke 23:1–2). In John’s gospel the angry mob warned Pilate, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12).
People today argue about who’s “subverting our nation.” A friend in Florida forwarded me an email that blamed Muslims in America for our problems. Others attack evangelicals as “Christian fascists.” For a long time conservatives have taken aim at “secular humanists” and liberal Democrats. On his nationally televised program Jerry Falwell blamed the wickedness of pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU, and People for the American Way for the 9-11 disaster, which he construed as God’s judgment. Pat Robertson, a guest on the show, nodded in agreement, “well, I totally concur.” Rush Limbaugh, the greed of corporate executives and the sleaze of Hollywood movies all make easy targets.
Marc Chagall, “Yellow Crucifixion” (1943).
But I’ve never heard anyone say what the Gospels say — blaming Jesus, that Jesus is the one who’s “subverting our nation.” But that was the allegation that sent Jesus to Golgotha.
What were Jesus and his first followers subverting? We know that the earliest believers were called “atheists” because they refused to participate in Rome’s cult of imperial worship, and a “third race” that distinguished itself from the “first race” (Greeks and Romans) and the “second race” (Jews). The question deserves a lifetime of reflection, but a simple summary by Borg and Crossan (The Last Week; A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem) also makes a good beginning.
Jesus’s alternate reign and rule, they argue, subverted major aspects of the way most societies in history have been organized. Whether ancient or modern, most societies have normalized a status quo of political oppression that marginalizes ordinary people, economic exploitation whereby the rich take advantage of the poor, and religious legitimation that insists that “God wants things this way.” It’s easy to think of other components of the cultural status quo that Jesus might also subvert, like ethnic stereotypes, media propaganda, gender roles, consumerism, and our degradation of planet earth.
Burial of Christ, Cathédrale d’Auch (France).
On Palm Sunday, Jesus invites us to join his subversive counter-procession into all the world. But he calls us not to just any subversion, subversion for its own sake, or to some new and improved political agenda. Rather, Christian subversion takes as its model Jesus himself, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross.”
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Image credits: (1) Open Society Institute of Macedonia; (2) Arte del Pueblo: Latin American & European Arts; (3) The Museum of Antiquities Collection, University of Saskatchewan; (4) Jeremy D. Popkin, Universtiy of Kentucky; and (5) Futur Quantique
Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday: (3/31): “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he”
Gospel Reading: John 8:21-30
21 Again he said to them, “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 Then said the Jews, “Will he kill himself, since he says, `Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” 25 They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Even what I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30 As he spoke thus, many believed in him.
Old Testament Reading: Numbers 21:4-9
7 And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Meditation: Do you know the healing power of the cross of Christ? When the people of Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin, God instructed Moses: “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8). The bronze serpent points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains everlasting life for those who believe. The result of Jesus “being lifted up on the cross” and his rising and exaltation to the Father’s right hand in heaven, is our “new birth in the Spirit” and adoption as sons and daughters of God. God not only redeems us, but he fills us with his own divine life and power that we might share in his glory. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit that we may have power to be his witnesses and to spread and defend the gospel by word and action, and to never be ashamed of Christ’s Cross. Are you ready to witness the truth and joy of the gospel to those around you?
While many believed in Jesus and his message, many others, including the religious leaders, opposed him. Some openly mocked him when he warned them about their sin of unbelief. It’s impossible to be indifferent to Jesus’ word and his judgments. We are either for him or against him. There is no middle ground or neutral parties. When Jesus spoke about going away he was speaking about his return to his Father and to his glory. His opponents could not follow him because by their continuous disobedience to the word of God and their refusal to accept him, they had shut themselves off from God. Jesus warned them that if they continued to refuse him they would die in their sins. Jesus’ words echoed the prophetic warning given to Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 3:18 and 18:18) where God warns his people to heed his word before the time is too late. God gives us time to turn to him and to receive his grace, but that time is right now.
To sin literally means to miss the mark or to be off target. The essence of sin is that it diverts us from God and from our true purpose in life – to know the source of all truth and beauty which is God himself and to be united with God in everlasting joy. When Adam and Eve first sinned, they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:8-10). That is what sin does; it separates us from the One who is all loving, all-wise, and all-just. Jesus went on to explain that if people could not recognize him in his word, they would have the opportunity to recognize him when he is “lifted up”on the cross of Calvary. Jesus pointed to the atoning sacrifice of his life on the cross as the true source of healing and victory over the sin of the world. The sacrifice of Christ’s life on the cross for our sins is the ultimate proof of God’s love for us. God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). To fail to recognize Jesus and where he came from is to remain in spiritual darkness; to believe Jesus and his words is to walk in the joy and light of God’s truth. There are certain opportunities in life that come and do not return. Each of us is given the opportunity to know and to accept Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. But that opportunity can be rejected and lost. Life here is limited and short, but how we live it has everlasting consequences. Do you take advantage of the present time to make room for God so that your life will count for eternity?
“Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and deeds may be according to your Father’s law and thus may we be saved and protected through your mighty help.”
Psalm 102:2-3,16-21
2 Do not hide thy face from me in the day of my distress! Incline thy ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!
3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
16 For the LORD will build up Zion, he will appear in his glory;
17 he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
19 that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;
21 that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise
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Monday, March 30, 2009
John 8:1-11
Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus I love You!!
Daily Reading & Meditation
Monday: (3/30): “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness”
Gospel Reading: John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”
Old Testament Reading: Daniel 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62 (Duutero-canonical)
22 Susanna sighed deeply, and said, “I am hemmed in on every side. For if I do this thing, it is death for me; and if I do not, I shall not escape your hands. 23 I choose not to do it and to fall into your hands, rather than to sin in the sight of the Lord.
Meditation: Are you ready to be changed and transformed in Christlike holiness? God never withholds his grace from us. His steadfast love and mercy is new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23). Through the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit we can be changed and made new in Christ. He can set us free from our unruly desires and passions. Jesus never lost an opportunity to bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and guilt. His frequent association with sinners, however, upset the sensibilities of the religious leaders. When a woman caught in adultery was brought to them for trial, they confronted Jesus on the issue of retribution. Jewish law treated adultery as a serious crime since it violated God’s ordinance and wreaked havoc on the stability of marriage and family life. It was one of the three gravest sins punishable by death.
This incident tells us a great deal about Jesus’ attitude to the sinner. The scribes and Pharisees wanted to entrap Jesus with the religious and civil authorities. That is why they brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus. Jesus turned the challenge towards his accusers. In effect he said: Go ahead and stone her! But let the man who is without sin be the first to cast a stone. The Lord leaves the matter to their own consciences. When the adulterous woman is left alone with Jesus, he both expresses mercy and he strongly exhorts her to not sin again. The scribes wished to condemn, Jesus wished to forgive and to restore the sinner to health. His challenge involved a choice – either go back to your former way of sin and death or to reach out to the new way of life and happiness with him. Jesus gave her pardon and a new start on life. God’s grace enables us to confront our sin for what it is – unfaithfulness to God, and to turn back to God with a repentant heart and a thankful spirit for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Do you know the joy of repentance and a clean conscience?
“God our Father, we find it difficult to come to you, because our knowledge of you is imperfect. In our ignorance we have imagined you to be our enemy; we have wrongly thought that you take pleasure in punishing our sins; and we have foolishly conceived you to be a tyrant over human life. But since Jesus came among us, he has shown that you are loving, that you are on our side against all that stunts life, and that our resentment against you was groundless. So we come to you, asking you to forgive our past ignorance, and wanting to know more and more of you and your forgiving love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Prayer of Saint Augustine)
Psalm 23:1-6
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
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Gregory Mussmacher, Padre Pio
May 27, 2009, 10:39 am
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Gregory Mussmacher,”Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” Padre Pio
Litany of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the World,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Virgin Immaculate, pray for us.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us.
Beloved of God, pray for us.
Imitator of Jesus Christ, pray for us.
Good shepherd of the people, pray for us.
Model for priests, pray for us.
Light of the Church, pray for us.
Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.
Faithful son of St. Francis, pray for us.
Marked with the stigmata of Jesus, pray for us.
Patient in suffering, pray for us.
Helper of the dying, pray for us.
Director of souls, pray for us.
Heart of gold, pray for us.
Apostle of mercy, pray for us.
Worker of miracles, pray for us.
Consoler of the afflicted, pray for us.
Lover of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
Helper of souls in doubt and darkness, pray for us.
Comforter of the sick, pray for us.
Example of humility, pray for us.
Source of wisdom, pray for us.
Mirror of the divine life, pray for us.
Lover of Jesus Crucified,
Resigned to the will of God, pray for us.
Doing good upon earth, pray for us.
Filled with the spirit of self-sacrifice, pray for us.
Our help and hope in all our needs, pray for us.
Vessel of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
Leading us to Christ, pray for us.
Our spiritual father and advocate, pray for us.
Crowned with glory in Heaven, pray for us.
God our Father, You helped St. Pio to reflect the
image of Christ through a life of charity and self-sacrifice.
May we follow your Son by walking in the footsteps of
St. Pio of Pietrelcina and by imitating his selfless love.
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