Homilies with Fr John Rutten

Children are taught to have careers as Community Helpers. We are back at a time when we need to encourage people to give their lives as servants. The Church asks the same. And Christ is the power that makes us capable of giving our lives away in such a selfless act. This is what it means to follow Him.

We all want to belong. None of us want to have needs – Reel needs that open up sadness or loneliness or pain. But needs, and the deeper they are, open us up to a greater belonging.

Unity is essential to Christian life. What makes us one? How do you live in unity?

The Three Amigos looked up, and Clarice looked down. We like the Apostles must look too. Where are we to look?

Summer Daily Dose

Scriptural Proof of Sacred Tradition helps us see in the Apostle’s gesture of going to Samaria to bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit that we call now Confirmation. Today the bishops are the successors with this power and each person who receives the Holy Spirit is sent to give the world reasons for hope!

Philip after being with Jesus still has to ask to see the Father and doesn’t recognize Jesus is the presence of the Father. We too must ask for Him and discover the Father is here and often deeply working in our lives! As graduation day approaches and this group continues the journey, might they ask and recognize Him through the Church!

The sheep know the shepherd through his voice. Christians know Jesus through His voice. However, His voice comes through friends and family and priests and Saints and Apostles and Peter and Popes. We must grow in our capacity to hear Him.

The source and summit of Christian life is the Eucharistic: Jesus is present. When one recognizes this, it should also help reveal His presence in Scripture, the stranger who arrives, the companionship of two, and our hearts that burn.

The early church did these four things and saw growth. We too need to pay attention to these four things.

Holy week begins. What are we doing here?

Back from mission. Mission continues!

Each person is different but we belong to Christ. The Scriptures remind us we do not belong to Paul or Apollos or Cephas but to Christ. This however doesn’t discount that we meet Christ and belong to the Church through the Bishop. How? …

We get surprised when we discover someone we have known has something inside themself we didn’t see. Peter, James, and John were surprised Jesus had something inside himself they hadn’t seen. Today, the Christian has Christ inside and we often don’t see. the Eucharist, is the Glory of God in our midst but we don’t see. However, His Flesh and Blood us really In there!

Someone told me this was “fire”. I have no memory of it, but here it is for everyone to be “sparked”!

The first reading speaks of the breath of life in Genesis and this is also revealed after the Resurrection when Jesus gives the Apostles the power to forgive sins. The power then continues through apostolic lineage and in the sacramental life of the Church.

The Demon Arc is a sign we are made in a way to want to change our lives for the better. Ash Wednesday is Gods way to help us do this together and while I am glad young people today want God to be a part of their change, we know God must come first, middle and last!

Light has been a part of God’s revelation from creation to the Temple in Jerusalem. The worship of Israel points to Jesus Christ who is the “Light of the World.” His Body continues to bring Light to the world. We might miss the little ways our light is His Body!

What is the desire for someone to know people? Why should people in the Church care to know who each other are? it’s a spiritual reality but a human family. St Angela writes about the desire to know, spiritual children.

We often know our belonging by those who are blood related. We add those who are married into our blood families. And over time we add even more people. Through the power of God we add people in differing ways, ultimately everyone belongs to God. But Jesus invites us to belong to the Church. How do we know we are one with the Church?

The lamb - think of a little baby lamb - was offered in sacrifice to God. The lamb was offered because it represented innocence and purity. This prefigured Jesus, the innocent and pure victim.

Jesus is the Way. Through the Church we are instruments who tell others, “this way.” The way is through baptism but also the important aspect of discovering we are children of God! In this way, we even see Jesus being baptized and hearing “this is my beloved son!” while baptism is essential, it is also necessary to discover our identity as sons and daughters. This is “the way”!

It’s important to understand how God works in our lives. How events play into our growth. and to recognize that the Apostles didn’t always understand but with time, He showed them. Is He showing you?

Great readings today remind us we are not the first to live in troubled times. We need to look for the people of light who help us look to the Light and not our troubles and darkness!

Isaiah speaks of the expectations for healing and miracles that are witnessed by the disciples in the Gospel. They are told to go back and speaking of what they have seen. We too have desires and expectations! Many people are looking for signs of “life”. If we have seen them, we too must be willing to “go back” and share what we have witnessed!