Reflection of Father Moreno's Homily: August 28, 2011
On their way to Jerusalem Jesus had a conversation with the apostles, he told them that he would have to suffer, be killed and on the third day be raised from the dead.
They didn’t want to hear about his dying, just like we don’t want to hear about our loved ones dying.
We do not like to talk about death, the finality of life, that we cannot control death.
Peter rebuked Jesus that he would not be rejected, that he would not die.
We give death the silent treatment, we ignore pain, we struggle to communicate, we are afraid of the depth of intimacy.Peter was in denial that Jesus would be rejected, crucified, suffer and die.
In our journey of faith we deny and ignore suffering and this causes anger, frustration, sadness, and depression.
We must rebuke Satan; exorcise Satan, because we have authority over Satan.
Father Moreno encouraged us to read “The Screw tape Letters” by C.S. Lewis.
There is a hell and there is a devil.
We must say “Get behind me Satan”; we can conquer the power of evil.
Satan is standing in front of us, to mock us that we are sinners; we pretend there is no sin; these are the lies of Satan, the power of darkness.
We are protected by the Name of Jesus Christ.
We are not overwhelmed; because with the light of Christ darkness is set alight.
We are to think like God, to have an informed moral conscience.
Do we say “I want to be holy” or are we afraid to proclaim who we are. God makes us holy.
Pray: “Lord, make me holy”. Do we pray to become a saint or a devil?
Four (4) things:
1) If we want to follow Jesus
2) We must deny ourselves
3) Take up our cross
4) And follow Jesus
1) If we want to follow Jesus we must daily choose to pray. We must ask: “What are we going to do today, Jesus?” We must abandon ourselves and trust Jesus.
2) We must deny ourselves, like the image of marriage; we must give our self to the other person. God doesn’t make junk. We must share our life with others in Christ. We are no longer single, we must put our spouse ahead of our self, and we must love in spite of all the other person’s faults. Commitment means that we commit ourselves to the other person. We say: “I’m not giving up on you.”
3) Take up our cross means we don’t ignore our crosses, we give them to Jesus. Trust that Jesus is with us always, His Cross will save us.
4) Follow Jesus means we don’t let Satan discourage us. When we feel temptation and fear we say: “Get behind me Satan.”
Father Moreno reminded us that this is the House of God and we are not to chew gum or eat food. We are to lower the kneelers in a gentle way because the kneelers are old and we need to take care of them and not just drop them.
Father Moreno mentioned that last Sunday we blessed the children because of the start of the new school year and this Sunday he asked all the teachers to come up and receive a special blessing. God bless our teachers.
