2018 Holy Family

Christmas 2017

Reformed Catholic Church Pastoral Letter

4th Sunday of Advent 2017

A Pastoral Letter to all Christians

Gaudete Sunday 2017

Gaudete Sunday 2017

2nd Sunday of Advent 2017

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Christ the King 2017

33rd Ordinary Sunday 2017

Reflecting on God and 82 Years of Life

Reflecting on 83 years

A reflection for Sunday November 12, 2017

By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans of Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

This coming Thursday November 16^th, I enter my 83^rd year of life.

As I look back and count the numerous blessings that God has bestowed upon me I realize how truly blessed God has been too me.

Today’s first reading from Wisdom, chapter 6 tells us; “Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates. To fix one's thought on her is perfect understanding, and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.”

Throughout my entire life I have attempted, by asking God in prayer, to gain the wisdom and knowledge I needed to know God’s will for me, and I still continue to seek that gift from God in spite of realizing that he has provided me the insight as I traveled my highway of life.

To begin with, when I came into this world, according to my mother, there were serious doubts I would actually make it,  since she had lost two other children before and even when I was born, I was dehydrated to such a degree that the first 6 months were questionable, but since then I have been blessed with relatively good health and blessed by God to overcome, so far, the four cancers I had.

My most difficult thing today is the effect on my body of the Accute Stenosis which makes walking or standing for long times painful and stressful.

I was blessed to have parents and family that exposed me to the arts especially music and theater, and who traveled.

I was at the 1939 World’s fair, saw the original production of THE KING AND I with Gertrude Lawrence.

By my 13^th year I had traveled and visited 44 of the contiguous states.

I received an excellent education from devoted nuns and priests and eventually entered the seminary in my junior year of High School.

I was on the verge of being ordained a Josephite priest in 1957 when they recommended that I take some time off to be sure of my vocation, so, I followed my second love, Theater.

I never became famous, but I did get to work with people like Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Hal Prince, Carol Burnett, Elizabeth Montgomery and got to write, produce and direct a show that was on Broadway.

It was during this time that I met the woman who would become my wife and the mother of my three children.

God always kept me centered whenever I was thinking the gifts He gave me were my own talents and He did something to get me back on track.

The desire to serve as a religious was never too far from me and I kept up on my theology, the changes of Vatican 2, while teaching in Catholic Schools often serving as a Director of Religious Education.

Sometimes when the rug was dragged out from under me and  I became very upset and depressed God would save me from doing something drastic and lift me up.

On one of those occasions when I was at the bottom, I tossed open the Bible and read the page that it opened to and there was an answer. It was in the book of Job.

I realized that if we keep our trust and faith in God and not give up and blame Him, He will lead us to where He wants us, and He did.

I prayed the following prayer; “God, what is it you want from me? I am not good on subtle hints God, I need you to push me, no shove me where it is you want me” and he led me back to teaching and parish ministry eventually being ordained a Deacon in 1980.

In 1986 Cardinal Roger Mahoney founded a ministry within the Diocesan offices to the GLBTQI community and Divorced Catholics and began working with it as well as my teaching & parish ministry.

In 2001, at age 67, I decided it was time to retire and move back to Massachusetts to be near my family.

I returned home to Massachusetts finding that there was not much being done in ministry to the LGBTQI and Divorced Catholics community in New England and so I felt inspired to found one.

 After my mother was called home to the Lord in 1987 I had been submitting application too various religious orders but always received rejections because; “You are over our age limit for admission” or some other excuse but I continued my quest.

I began Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus in 2002 without any church sponsorship after discovering the Saints while on a retreat and felt it was God’s who was inspiring me to do so.

Much to my surprise, I received a letter from the Servant Franciscans of the Immaculata which since has become the Franciscans of the Annunciation of the Infinite Love of God. They had reviewed my records and transcripts, conferred with my references and decided that I was worthy to be a member of their order and to be ordained a priest.

On 8/15/2003^, the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, I was ordained and now I am in my 15^th year, the 6^th year of the REFLECTIONS TV show.

As a child, I often visited the Franciscan church here in Boston. I even remember a Franciscan Priest Fr. Fulgence, guided me when I had serious doubt and questions about God’s will for me.

Now here I am, entering my 83rd year of life, realizing that everything in my life had been a part of God’s plan, that I probably would not have the faith in God that I have now if I was ordained back in 1957.

I realize that my entire life before my ordination in 2003, was God’s way of giving me the wisdom I would need to be a good servant to His children.

I pray that whatever time God has left for me on this earthly plane, I totally give myself over to serving him and those children He places in my path.

This Thursday as I begin another year of life I pray that in some way, with the continued help and Wisdom of Almighty God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I may be able inspire, all those who have felt rejected unwanted and alienated from God and the Church by the dictates of mere men who are prone to make mistakes, back into the Mystical Body of Christ the Church.

I enter my Autumn days of life with prayers asking forgiveness for the mistakes I have made along the highway of life and Pray that anyone I may have hurt along my life’s journey will forgive and pray for me.

May God’s wisdom continue to guide me in all I do so that I serve God with my entire being. Please Pray for me.  Amen.

32 Sunday of Ordinary time 2017

31st Ordinary Sunday 2017

30th Ordinary Sunday Oct 29 2017

29th Ordinary Sunday 2017

28th Ordinary Sunday 2017

27th Ordinary Sunday 2017

Sunday October 1, 2017 Homily

Acclaim Jesus as Lord

A Reflection for the Twenty Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

October 1, 2017

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus? Order Franciscans of Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

In the first reading for this Sunday we hear Ezekiel telling us “When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die”  (Ezekiel 18:28)  What a wonderful affirmation for us, to know that we are guarantied forgiveness of our transgressions, which as humans we are bound to commit, if we but ask God for forgiveness.

In Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi Paul tells us that LOVE is what binds us together as Christians. “ if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind.”  Paul goes on to say; “Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.” … “Being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1 – 11)

In Paul’s letter we are advised to emulate Christ and be considerate of others and not just of ourselves. Paul goes on to describe how Jesus, even though he was divine, humbled himself and took on human attributes even to the point of accepting the ignominious death of a criminal on the cross just so we could have complete forgiveness of our sins and have everlasting life in the hereafter with His Father , himself and all the heavenly elect.

The Gospel reading ends with Christ telling the chief priests and the elders that; “I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you”. .. “John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did” (Matthew 21:28 – 32)

The lessons to be learned from these readings, I believe, is that no person will be denied acceptance and the promise of everlasting life if they repent for their sins and seek God.

Seeking God means to live our life in a manner that extends love to ALL those we come in contact with and being considerate of their needs rather than our own self interests.

In these days of turmoil in our world and financial turmoil in our country it would be very easy to forget about others and only look after our own self interest. If this is the road we choose to travel, we become no better than the Chief Priests and the elders who professed to be servants of God yet rejected God’s messengers John the Baptist and Jesus Himself.

Sometimes I feel that some of our professed Christian leaders have followed the same path as the Chief Priests and Elders in that they have failed to live in a manner consistent with Christ’s teachings and example. They promote things that will insure them popularity and financial security and power rather than a spirit of welcoming and Love for ALL God’s Children.

This past week I have been given a great opportunity to witness and put into action Christ’s teachings. I will not go into details but I tried to comfort and put at peace a grandmother whose grandchild had been murdered.  I was also blessed to be able to assist a man who has suffered the loss of much of his muscles and has difficulty eating by preparing food in a way that he could swallow it and would gain nourishment. I considered this opportunity a gift from God because it brought home to me the knowledge of how many blessings I have been given throughout my life.

The key to receiving God’s blessings, I believe, is to be willing to accept all that God sends you without grumbling and willingly as Christ did and to put your entire life in God’s hands.

We need to open ourselves up to God’s will and stop trying to analyze God’s intent. God has a reason for all that He has done. God creates people as they are for a reason and it is not our place to reject any of God’s children or to deny them the same rights and privileges as every other citizen. We need to have compassion for those who are sick and the poor and do all in our power to ease their suffering so that they will know that someone cares for them and by that action we can bring them to know of God’s infinite love.

By living our life for others and not ourselves we then “Become united in our love” not only for God but for all God’s children and in so doing we “acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father”

Let us go forth proclaiming our love of God through our actions and by exhibiting God’s love by our love toward all God’s children we encounter in our daily lives. Let us be more aware of the needs of others so that we become less self centered and more generous toward those who God has given to us for that purpose.  AMEN

26th Ordinary Sunday 1012017

25th Ordinary Sunday 2017

24th Ordinary Sunday 2017

23rd ordinary Sunday 2017

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017

21st Ordinary Sunday 2017

21st Ordinary Sunday 2017

20th Ordinary Sunday 2017 Aug. 20th

19th Ordinary Sunday 2017

Review of Dignity USA 2017 Conference

16th Ordinary Sunday 2017

14th Ordinary Sunday 2017

13th Ordinary Sunday July 2 4 2017

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12th Sunday Ordinary Time 2017

Corpus Christi 2017 June 18th

Trinity Sunday Homily

Trinity Sunday 2017

Sunday June 11, 2017

A Reflection based on Readings from

Exodus, 43, Daniel 3, Corinthians 13, John 3

By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

 Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Mercy

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

www.missionstsergius.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

 

 

The readings for this Sunday the feast of the Blessed Trinity of God Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit proclaim one important message that we need to burn into our memory and hold fast to since it sums up the most important thing we need to know about God.

Our God is a God of LOVE, MERCY, and COMPASSION.

In essence, God is LOVE consummate. In the first reading from Exodus we read where God himself proclaimed to Moses the following; “"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." The Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday comes from the book of Daniel and is the ultimate praise prayer that we should profess every day and one which we Franciscans do say at least twice a day in keeping with the fact that St. Francis himself prayed it often throughout the day. It is simple and yet very powerful.  “Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all age, Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever!”

The second reading informs us on how we should live with one another and again it is a message of extending love like that Christ exhibited to all we meet especially our family, friends and members of our Faith Community.  The reading tells us to; “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” The reading ends with a prayer that we say several times as we celebrate the Mass.   “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

The Gospel begins by reminding us of how much God and His beloved son loves us when it says; “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” St. John then goes on to remind us that God is not interested in being a God of condemnation; “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  

It is, I believe, very appropriate the this year Trinity Sunday that celebrates the 3 distinct separate manifestations of Almighty God  yet the unity of them happens to fall this year on Father’s Day since Christ called God His Father.  He even told us that when we pray, say; “Our Father who art in heaven”

God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in every way. Whatever attributes and power God the Father has, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have as well. "Thus, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are also eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely loving, and omniscient." All this means that since all the attributes of God are Consubstantial meaning "of one being" in that the Son is "generated" ("born" or "begotten") "before all ages" or "eternally" of the Father's own being, from which the Spirit also eternally "proceeds.". All 3 personas of God are the same and therefore the great power and force that is God is LOVE.

To sum up, if we are to become Christ like or God like, we need to work hard on being more loving and accepting of everyone, even those who don’t always treat us well.

That is very difficult, but remember, as he hung on the Cross Christ called out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. To be forgiving of those who have done harm to us is the ultimate way of expressing Love but it is extremely difficult and requires us to be reject the normal human reaction to retaliate. I find that I need to constantly implore the Paraclete to give me the strength and inspiration to be able to become more loving in my relationships with those who do not always treat me well. And since God is generous and loving I find that somehow I am able to forgive and be cordial to those who have hurt me.

Whether we pray to God in the name of Adonai, Yahweh, El-Olam, Jesus or The Paraclete (Holy Spirit) we are praying to the one and only God. The same God that Abraham, Isaac, Moses, King David, Jacob, Mohammad, the Apostles and all the Saints prayed too.

In short, let us establish a line of communication with God and let us try to have more love for all those we encounter. Just possibly, if we can achieve that it will start spreading like a virus that invades people turning their hearts of stone into hearts filled with compassion, mercy and the desire for a world without war, hunger, poverty, homelessness and prejudice.      AMEN

 

Trinity Sunday 2017

Pentecost Homily

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Reflection for Pentecost Sunday by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

TV SHOW LINK: https://www.youtube.com/user/RevBobJohn

 

Based on Readings from; Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7;Romans 8:8-17, Psalm 104, John14:15-26;

 

“Come, Holy Spirit, come! And From Thy clear celestial height Thy pure beaming radiance give.Come, Thou Father of the poor,Come with treasures which endure,Come, Thou Light of all that live.Thou, of all consolers best,Thou, the soul’s delightsome Guest,Dost refreshing peace bestow.Thou in toil art comfort sweet,Pleasant coolness in the heat,Solace in the midst of woe.Light immortal, Light divine,Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,And our inmost being fill.If Thou take Thy grace away,Nothing pure in man will stay;All his good is turned to ill.Heal our wounds; our strength renew;On our dryness pour Thy dew;Wash the stains of guilt away.Bend the stubborn heart and will;Melt the frozen, warm the chill;Guide the steps that go astray.Thou, on those who evermoreThee confess and Thee adore,In Thy sevenfold gifts descend:Give them comfort when they die,Give them life with Thee on high;Give them joys that never end.

These words are the translation from the ancient Latin Hymn/prayer Veni Sancte Spiritus, sometimes called the "Golden Sequence and dates back to the thirteenth-century.

The feast of Pentecost, which is also referred to as the Birthday of the church, celebrates the decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles after which they went forth preaching the Good News of Salvation. 

After the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire when they spoke they were heard by the people of every race and nationality proclaiming the truth of Jesus teachings in the language of the nationality of those listeners present.

The word of God needs to be proclaimed in the language of the listener which was the intent of having the liturgy of the Eucharist, commonly called the Mass, translated from the Latin into the language of the people by Vatican II making it more understandable and reverent to all participating. Sadly the translations failed to meet the original meaning of the Latin and became less than a spiritual experience and more a modernized prayer service and theatrical experience in some cases. The mass we now celebrate was revised again in 2010 to be true to the original Latin.

God’s word was not meant for the chosen few but for the entire human race. The Apostles were told to preach the word to all nations even unto the ends of the earth. In order to do this and faithfully proclaim the truth one has to know the meaning of the original Greek and Aramaic words of the first writings.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” It is in this letter that one of the most redeeming passages of scripture can be found. Paul informs us “everyone has different gifts bestowed on them by God through the Holy Spirit.” He goes on to affirm that there are “Different forms of service, but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces them all. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” “For in one Spirit we were all Baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek, slave of free person, we were all given to drink of the one Spirit”

Paul’s letter to the Romans admonishes us to “Live by the Spirit”, it goes further to tell us that the desires of the flesh can cause a breakdown of the graces provided to us. Some of the “Desires of the flesh” Paul mentions are, lust ( desiring after someone or something that belongs to another or craving for self gratification) idolatry ( the worship of false gods which would also include placing money or wealth or power above love of and worship of God), hatred, rivalry, jealousy, anger or fury, selfishness, and drunkenness.  

To elaborate on each of these today and how we might possibly cause ourselves to be separated from God, and the Gifts of the Spirit which God freely gives us through the Holy Spirit, would take more time than we have.

 I will however, point to the fact that hatred, jealousy, rivalry, anger , fury, and selfishness are among those Paul mentions and often times cause more pain and hurt toward others than some of the more obvious sins of the flesh.

It is some of those “Desires of the Flesh” that have caused the separations that exist within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church just as giving in to those personal pleasure desires have caused the scandal that has disgraced so many.   So many of the “rules” that churches enforce and claim are necessary for salvation have nothing at all to do with our salvation but with the churches maintaining their financial income and to prevent people from searching for the truth of God’s teachings and researching the history of the church.

 Each of these “Desires of the Flesh” affords us many ways of sinning. They are human faults that every individual has; our task is to try our best to resist their lure to partake of their pleasures.

One thing that I personally can attest to is that, if we call upon God daily, or as many times as we need to in order to resist the temptations that plague us every day and ask God to send us the Holy Spirit, God will oblige.

One of my daily prayers is “Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart and kindle in in me the fire of your love so that I might be renewed”

In John 16: we are promised, “The Spirit will guide you to all truth. The spirit will not speak on its own, but will speak what he hears from me and declare it to you” The spirit speaks within us always with God’s will and teachings, we need to hearken to what we hear, even when it is opposite what popular thinking is proclaiming and be steadfast in proclaiming what our inner voice is telling us. God is always there awaiting your call to Him. He does not have an answering machine, voice mail, or a secretary. You are not asked to press (1)if you need healing, press (2) for forgiveness, press (3) to seek a favor and so on.  You will not receive a message “Sorry God is busy taking a call from another special customer, please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received”.  God is always listening to what we are saying and will respond to us according to what He feels is best for us. God always answers our prayers, just not always in the way we want, but in what will be best for us.

Many times God actually comes to us and speaks to us in our dreams or quiet times and even sometimes while driving a car, listening to the I pod, watching TV or playing ball.

Unfortunately, we are often too preoccupied to listen to what he is telling us through the Holy Spirit.

I suggest that the time is NOW for us to begin to be more receptive to those calls from God. Don’t put Him on hold, but take a break from whatever we are engaged in and listen with an open and receptive heart.

We need to allow ourselves to “Receive The Holy Spirit” so that we can begin to develop a deeper and closer relationship with Almighty God and allow us to receive all the gifts of The Spirit, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

May God grant us the wisdom and understanding and the ability to hear Him when He speaks to us and then go out and live in accordance with His will.

AMEN

Pentecost Sunday 2017

7th Easter Sunday&Ascension Thursday

6th Sunday of Easter 2017

Mother's Day 2017 Homily

A Tribute to Our Heavenly Mother and all Mothers

A reflection for Mother’s Day May 14, 2017

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus

Order Franciscans of Mercy

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

www.missionstsergius.org

TV YouTube Page Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/RevBobJohn

 

 

 

The Mother's Day holiday in the United States, celebrates motherhood generally and the wonderful contributions of all mothers and women to society.

It is the result of a campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis who, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905, devoted her life to establishing Mother's Day as a national, and later an international, holiday.

Throughout all of history, mothers have played one of the most important roles in society. There is an old adage that “Behind every successful man there is a woman” and this is an adage that holds true almost every time, that woman is usually the man’s mother.

We know from scripture that Jesus’ mother was often in his company and suffered with him because of the rejection and ultimately the crucifixion of her beloved son. With His last breath, Christ symbolically gave His mother to all of us with these words “Woman, behold, your son! Son, Behold, your mother!”(John 19:25-27)

Mary was the catalyst for the first recorded miracle of Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana. Mary and the other women discovered that Christ has risen from the dead. It is Our Blessed Mother that often is the bearer of messages to the world from Her son and Almighty God.

Mary’s appearances at Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Mejigore, and to Saint Catherine Laboure’ to whom the Blessed Mother displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, wearing many rings of different colors, most of which shone rays of light over the globe and around the margin of the frame appeared the words O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Just as Our Heavenly Mother Mary had and still has an important place in the Christian life, so to do all mothers have an important role in the future of society. The mother nourishes the child from inception to adult hood and beyond.  Mothers are the first educators, set the moral guidelines and often teach the first prayers and instill a love and devotion to God.

It was 30 years ago this week, May 5^th 1987, three days before Mother’s Day, that a beautiful woman by the name of Elizabeth was called home to Almighty God. 

She did not become famous, never made headlines, if anything her life was very simple. 

Born in Ireland in 1906 her early years were anything but wonderful. She lived in fear of the British troops who roamed her country.  When she was only 5 years old, she watched in horror as her mother died in childbirth while her father and uncle were arguing, drunk, in an adjoining room. Shortly after that, her father left her with another uncle and aunt while he went off to America in search of a better life. The Aunt, according to the stories told, mistreated little Elizabeth to the point she ran away to another uncle who took her in and lived with along with his young son Willie until 1913, when word came for her to come to America. She remembers arriving at Ellis Island frightened and amazed, as she gazed from the gangplank at the enormous glowing statue of a woman holding a torch on the base of which was inscribed the words “Give me your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free”

In 1929, while working in a drug store, a handsome man, Bob, who was working days as a welder and nights as a singer in the Keith Vaudeville Circuit and studying law, spotted her.  

They got married in September 1930 but life was not to be a “Happy Ever After” of the storybooks.  Bob had a drinking problem and it caused many arguments as it often does but Betty had faith and hung in there.

Through all her life’s problems, she never gave up her faith in Almighty God and had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary. A devotion she passed on to her son, yours truly.

The life of Elizabeth is just a regular life, it is a life that millions of woman happily do every day. They are the woman who we celebrate on Mother’s Day.

My Mother and many other mothers emulate the role Our Blessed Mother gave and they, through the years, followed in Our Lady’s footsteps, giving of themselves for their children and spouses.

I know that Elizabeth is in the company of Our Blessed Mother and our Redeemer Jesus Christ and that Bob my father is serenading Almighty God and all the heavenly elect with his magnificent tenor voice while Elizabeth sits proudly and appreciatively as she did every time he sang.

Since my Mom had two miscarriages before I arrived, she could never understand how anyone could end the gift of life and the opportunity to be a mother.  Women are more compassionate, nurturing and forgiving than most men. If women were given a greater role in the activities of the church, we might not have had the problems we have been facing in recent years.

If women were allowed to be deacons or priests we probably would not have a shortage of priests and the church would be more nurturing towards individuals seeking the love of God.

Mothers are less likely to reject a child because of their sexual orientation.  

In short, on this Mother’s Day we need to celebrate ALL Women, Mothers, Grandmothers, mothers to be, woman who may never be mothers, All Woman, for without woman, there would be no men.

 Without Our Blessed Mother, Jesus would not have been.

This weekend, let us give woman the credit they deserve, let us try to do something special for all woman in our life. Let us make this a celebration for all women for the contributions that they have played in forming not only the Judea/Christian and other Religious faiths but also History in general.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, your children are a gift; never let them feel unloved or unwanted. God created them and gave them to you to cherish. Protect them as best as possible, give them strong love and knowledge of how to love, forgive, and know and serve God.

Love can conquer all adversity as the story of Elizabeth and Bob can illustrate, their love was stronger than any adversity they faced.

Just as God’s love is stronger than any adversity any of us may face. AMEN

Good Shepherd Sunday 2017

3rd Sunday of Easter Homily

In The Breaking of the Bread

A Reflection for the 3^rd Sunday of Easter April30,  2017

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans ofMercy

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

www.missionstsergius.org

 

 

“Were not the Scriptures open and our hearts burning within us as He spoke?” “By the breaking of the Bread their eyes were opened to them” These words taken from the Gospel of today should give us pause to think.  What would it take for us to recognize Christ today?

Jesus told us He came to bring a new covenant, a clearer meaning of all that had been written before by the prophets. Jesus came into being, sent by Almighty God, to open the scriptures to all people of all nations, races and genders.

Jesus came to simplify the message of Scripture for everyone.

Jesus came to dispel the idea that God was a vengeful God, but was a God of mercy, forgiveness and Love. Last Sunday we celebrated the feast honoring the Divine Mercy of God but even in light of all that has happened since the disciples met Christ on the road to Emmaus and chatted with him but did not recognize him until he sat with them and broke the bread there are people who do not accept or believe.

Jesus told us that the greatest commandments were “You shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Luke 10:27” “Do this and you shall live” (Luke 10:28)

I do not think that Christ’s teaching could be any clearer.  Yet, throughout the entire history of the Christian faith, men try to impose all sorts of rules, regulations and conditions onto this basic message often preventing those who desire to know, love and serve God from doing so.

 I grant you, that sin interferes with our expression of love for God. So what is sin? Sin is anything that hurts another, sin is anything that defames or injures your body, soul and mind or another person.

In short, sin is doing anything that does not acknowledge your love of your neighbor or yourself.

In order to accomplish this act of love for God and all His children, we need strength to overcome the many temptations that plague us every day.

We get that strength from frequent prayer (conversations with God), participation in partaking of the bread of life given to us by Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. “Take, eat, This is my body” (Matthew 26:26) “As often as you do this you do so in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25).

The Eucharist is much more than just a remembrance of Jesus Christ, it is His Body and Blood given to us to assimilate into our body’s giving us the strength to overcome the enticement of Satan.

In the Breaking of the bread, we call to mind the way Christ’s body was broken because of our sins.

In the mixing of the water and wine, we call to mind the blood and water that poured forth from Christ’s side when pierced by the lance.

Every time we receive the Eucharist, we strengthen our ability to repel sin.

Just as the disciples, whose hearts were ablaze with the Scriptures being opened to them when this stranger they met traveling to Emmaus told them “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” it was not until the invited stranger sat with that their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus, the Risen Christ when “he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Pope Benedict has said “The road to Emmaus “is the path of renewal and maturation in faith for all Christians,” 

Pope Francis in a homily for the 3^rd Sunday after Easter recalled the three appearances of Christ after he had conquered death and sin by rising from the dead, first to Mary Madeline, then to the Apostles and Thomas and finally to the disciples on the road to Emmaus with these words; “And like the travelers on the road to Emmaus, we need to find renewed joy and hope by recognizing that the Lord is ever at our side.

 

These disciples sought the living among the dead, yet Jesus led them, by different paths, to faith in him and the power of his resurrection. Today he challenges each of us to seek him, the Living One, and to leave behind everything that holds us back from encountering him and sharing in the rebirth, the freedom and the hope which he alone can give.”  

We too can have our hearts and eyes opened to Christ, living in our midst, through the Eucharist and by looking for the qualities that a follower of Christ should be exhibiting; compassion for the poor, aged homeless and unemployed, forgiveness toward those who have wronged them in any way, generosity with the gifts that God has given them and love of all they encounter as they travel life’s road.

We are called to emulate Jesus by loving everyone we come in contact with and granted this is not an easy task especially when some people we meet are downright nasty, but is we truly love God with all our being we will be able to find something about the person to love and we certainly can offer prayers for them asking God to lift their negative attributes from them and lead them to find God and know God’s infinite mercy and love.

We can deepen that recognition of Jesus by daily prayer and scripture reading.

Christ is the one and only head of the church, all the rest of us are mere servants of Christ who are here to shepherd and guide His flock toward the promised reward of everlasting life with God and all the heavenly elect when our days on this earthly plane are over. AMEN

3rd Sunday of Easter 2017

Divine Mercy Sunday 2017

Easter Appeal

An Easter Fund appeal

 Please, consider making  a donation for Easter to our Ministry which will help us meet the monthly expenses of serving 4 facilities with Mass & Eucharist as well as our visitations to shut-ins and outreach to those often forgotten or maligned.

 In the last 2 weeks, we have held Stations of the Cross, veneration of the Cross, reconciliation, and Sunday Masses at all 4 facilities.  We have transported senior to doctor appointments and food shopping as well.

Every donation no matter how small will help us, but a donation of the equivalent to an hour’s wages per week for the 52 weeks of the year would mean we would not have to keep begging if the 120 people who receives our Email homilies and the over 1250 friends who are associated with our blogs, Facebook, twitter and other Social network pages were to make that kind of a donation.   Donations can easily  made using the PayPal Guaranteed Safe and secure DONATION button Found on our web sites here: www.missionstsergius.org  & www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org    OR by sending a check or money order directly to our Ministry bank and notating on it “DONATION” TO:  Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus, C/O Middlesex Savings Bank, 830 Washington Street Holliston, MA 01746

Thank You and May the hope of the resurrected Christ bring inner peace to you.  

May the gifts of the Holy Spirit working within you light up your life. May the love Jesus gifted us with, shape your gift and may the joy of this Easter Season fill you with comfort and joy.

 Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

Easter Homily

Be Not Afraid, He is Risen

An Easter Reflection

By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Order Franciscans of Mercy

An All Inclusive & Welcoming Old Catholic Ministry of Reformed Catholic Church

Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Web Site: www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org

Email Address: Divinemercyparish@msn.com

 

 

 

Alleluia, Alleluia “This is the Day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24). “Do not be Afraid, You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, He is not here, He has risen” (Mark 16:6). “Why do you search for the living among the Dead” (Luke24: 5 ) “He is not here, He has been raised, exactly as He had promised” (Matthew 28:6). “Rabbouni (Hebrew for teacher) ….I have seen the Lord” (John20:18).

 

The above words taken from the four gospels relating the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should have special meaning for us and fill us with hope and trust in God.

 

The Gospel from Matthew for this Easter day reads as follows; “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come; see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

 

The phrase, that I especially love and keep deep in my heart, is “Do Not Be Afraid” simply put, if you have faith in God and the truly believe the promises of Jesus Christ, there is nothing in life that you need to be afraid of. 

By placing your trust in the will of God and believing that everything in life has a God given purpose, even the dissension that causes  separation, bickering, or the power seeking of all those who profess to be followers of Christ and act in an manner that is inconsistent with Christ's teachings. 

In these days where division seems to be all around us in government and even faith communities we need to seek out what the root cause of it is. 

At the heart of most of the discourse is the desire for power, control and most of all, MONEY.

How foolish we mere mortals are, we allow our pride, greed and envy to cloud our eyes so that we forget the message proclaimed by Jesus through His resurrection. The message that with God, all things can be conquered, even death.  We also seem to conveniently forget what Christ has taught us by His life, words and deeds. “Love one another as I have loved You” 

Christ proved His love and God's infinite mercy and love for us in the ultimate way, by willingly accepting death, not just any death, but the ignominious death of crucifixion. What greater love could a person have but to be willing to give up their own life for another.

Christ not only conquered death, he conquered our sins because by His overcoming death and with His resurrection he brought us forgiveness for our weaknesses and gained for us the promise of everlasting life.

Jesus came to us from Almighty God to be a “Rabbouni” teacher to us. He came to teach us the way to our own salvation and glory. The sad thing is, all too often, we are either not willing to truly hear the teachings of Christ or if we do hear them we choose not to follow them because they are inconvenient for us. 

All the proclamations of Hallelujah, all the prayers, all the ceremonial trappings and fancy vestments are for naught if we do not follow through with actions.  If we do not assist the poor and needy, speak out against injustice and discrimination and share our gifts with those who are less fortunate all our proclamations of loving God are just hot air.   We need to affirm, as Mary Magdalene did when she proclaimed “Rabbouni” that Jesus was the teacher and we learned His lessons and we follow them by our actions in daily life.

Jesus was, is, and always will be the head of the church. He is directing those who believe through the Holy Spirit, “the giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the son. With the Father and the son, is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.” (Nicene Creed)  He speaks to each and every one of us who desire to know His truth and seek it out.  He does not just speak to the hierarchy but to all who, through Baptism, have been called to “priesthood” not just those who have been consecrated as “Presbyters”.  Each and every person who has been born again in Baptism needs to open their own hearts and minds and listen  for the voice of God speaking within us and judge how what we are hearing complies with what Christ taught us, in not only His words but by His actions.

We need to acknowledge Christ by seeking the truth found in His teachings. We need to act in our daily lives in the manner that is consistent with how Jesus instructed us in the Beatitudes.

“Why do you search for the living (Jesus) among the dead? “He has been raised, exactly as He promised”

Jesus is alive; he is alive in the hearts and souls of all those who have been reborn through Baptism and who faithfully live according to His instructions. Christ is alive in every person who partakes of the “living Bread” the Eucharist.

He gave himself to us, died for us and rose from the dead to conquer forever death from sin.  Jesus taught us the way in order for us to know how to carry on His work here on earth while he and the Father watch over us.  On this Easter day, we need to believe and accept God’s will as taught by Christ in words, deed and actions and emulate them in our life.

On this glorious day when we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Let each of us who believe in Him and accept the call to “Come Follow Me” (Luke 18:22) and work together to bring all who believe in the message and teachings of Christ together again as one family. Each and every one of us needs to make a concerted effort to repair the breaches that have torn us apart into separate factions, usually over some man made regulations that were instituted for the purpose of gaining control, power or political gain and which have nothing to do with God‘s will.

There is only one God. There was only one Jesus Christ.  Christ, though His Apostles established one church, one faith.  It was not until that church, for political gain under Constantine, began to selectively pick and choose the teaching that fit their agenda and objectives that separation began and culminated when one Bishop decided that He, and only He was infallible and those who were supposed to be his equals were now subservient to him.

Every Baptized Christian is called to be Christ's and God's servants and disciples.

All of us are called to live our faith and the teachings of Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions and not just by giving lip service.

We need to not only talk the talk but we need to Walk the walk.

Those of us who have been called to be shepherds and presbyters of His flock need find ways to work together with one voice just as Jesus spoke with one voice. We need to stop the name calling and jockeying for power and financial gain and come together in unity with one message, the message that Christ claimed was the two greatest commandments, “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself”

We need to realize that every human on the face of the earth is a child of God and our neighbor. We need to stop discriminating against people because of their race, creed, marital status or sexual orientation and respect everyone as a child of God and our neighbor.

The Easter season has many symbols associated with it and some that people often do not know why we have Lilies, Eggs, Rabbits and baby chicks on this holiday that really is a Christian feast day.

The egg is a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged when he arose again. The chick, hatching out of the egg, symbolizes new life or re-birth.

The rabbit, or hare, was a symbol of abundant new life in ancient times, and reminds us of spring and new life.
One symbol that many people do not know is the Butterfly, which symbolizes the risen Christ since the Caterpillar has to die in the cocoon ( grave) to rise again as the beautiful butterfly.

We Christians have a responsibility to make known to our children why we have Chickens, Rabbits, and eggs on this feast day and what they symbolize.

Without Christ rising form the dead, his life, our ability to have everlasting life in heaven and the forgiveness of sin and his enduring his passion and death would have all been a total waste.

Christ has given us new life just as His rising brought a new life and meaning to the teachings of God through the ages.

 

By living in accord with Christ’s teachings and proclaiming every Easter Sunday morning, “Alleluia, Alleluia, This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be Glad, Jesus Christ has risen, Jesus is alive. Alleluia, Alleluia.” we are saying that Jesus lives today in each of us and we are carrying out His way each and every day.

 

Let us pray; “Give praise to the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever. Alleluia, Alleluia. Send down Your spirit of love upon us and through your goodness make us of one mind who you have bless with the Paschal Sacrament.  All glory honor and praise be yours, now and forever.  AMEN.