Here is Isaiah speaking about the messiah

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;

My brothers and sisters,

This applies to us as well. We are called by God’s action in the Holy Spirit. Every man, woman, and child is called.

I love the story of Cornelius. God surprised Peter here. God did something unexpected. Cornelius was a gentile. Remember last week, we spoke of how the gentiles came to worship Christ. The Magi were our representatives. As gentiles, we are grafted unto the vine. We are part of that vine now, not separate, not unequal. We are Israel.

Many Evangelical Christians are Christian Zionists. Their views on the end of the world, called pre-millennialism, call on them to support the Jewish people as having a unique, separate, and parallel role with the Church. They support the reestablished Israel and believe that Israel’s existence will bring about the end of the world. They hold the Jewish people and gentiles as separate.

My friends,

We are not separate. Rather we as gentiles are equal heirs, equal partners in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ is our Messiah; He is the world’s Messiah.

The Jewish people continue to hold a dear place in the heart of God, for God has not forgotten His promises to them. Their role as Israel by the flesh and their place in the history of salvation is only known to God, but that role is assured.

So we must not get caught up rhetoric that differentiates the Jewish and gentile peoples. Trust rather in what God has done. Cornelius the gentile —“ and his whole household received the Holy Spirit right in front of Peter’s eyes. Peter subsequently baptized them. Peter was confounded, taken off guard, he was not in control. God showed him what He wanted.

As with Cornelius, God has taken us by the hand and has called us. As Isaiah eludes, He calls us to be

a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Your baptism is your inclusion. You have been made part of the vine. Your inclusion in the new Israel carries both rights and responsibilities.

When you consider your role as the new Israel and your place in the Polish National Catholic Church, by right of your baptism and by your choice, you must not forget that its teachings are authentic and true. You must not forget that they are different. That they are not Roman Catholic or Protestant, nor can you easily equate them. You must remember that they are authentically catholic.

That is why, when you step outside, because you think something else is appealing or true, or when you walk away from the PNCC because you think another faith tradition is ‘just as good,’ you endanger your soul.

Do you understand what they teach? Do you understand what you are buying into? Do you understand that integrity calls you to study and come to a well informed decision before you endanger your soul? Do you understand that the PNCC places its emphasis not in tomes of rules, but in the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your life?

Do not let anyone fool you into believing that there are answers in Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing that some shadow of a seed or truth found in other faiths makes them right. That shadow is only the realization of the fact that all of humanity is called to the one God. It is symbolic of the fact that all of humanity is justified, sanctified, and made adopted sons and daughters by the saving action of Jesus Christ alone. The wholeness of God’s love and justice, the complete truth, is found in Jesus.

Jesus didn’t need to be baptized. He said however that he needed to fulfill all righteousness. He did so to show us the truth and the Father Himself proclaimed it from the heavens:

[As Jesus came up] out of the water
He saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
—You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.—

Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

The PNCC Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds is part of our rich heritage, and is another one of those unique feasts and solemnities that are not celebrated in other Catholic or Christian churches.

Who were these shepherds and why does the PNCC celebrate them? 

First of all, they are like us and our ancestors.  They were, in a particular way, like the men and women who worked to build and spread the PNCC across the United States and the world.

Remember that not many of our founders were rich, well educated, movers and shakers.  They were not people of power, means, and status.  They were humble working people.  They knew that their bread came by the sweat of their brow.  They knew what it meant to stand together, to help a neighbor and co-worker, to be strong in family and in faith.  They knew that their families were where the seeds of hard work, devotion to God’s Church, and love were planted.  They knew by first hand experience what the motto they left for the Church says: Truth, Work, and Struggle and through these Victory!

It is too bad that there aren’t similar solemnities and feasts worldwide. 

You know that the struggling Church is the Church that is sustaining the rest of us.  Look at the Church in Africa where strong, traditional Christianity is practiced, and where many suffer for the faith.  Look at the suffering Church in the Middle East and Asia where the penalty for faith in Jesus Christ is death.  Their values, their martyrs blood is what makes us strong.  The blood of martyrs is indeed the seed of the Christians. 

Like the suffering and the martyrs of today, and our humble immigrant ancestors, these shepherds were poor. 

The shepherds were not rich men living on a ranch and raising sheep.  They were rough and tough men, who lived out in the scrub and on the hillsides. They did not spend their evenings and nights in a house, rather they spent their time with the sheep —“ watching them, protecting them, and sleeping near them.  They were loners.   They were cunning, fearless, vigilant guardians whose deep and fierce love for their flocks made them a formidable force.  They inherited their trade from their fathers and passed it on to their sons.

These rough, tough, hard men were used to hard work.  The shepherd didn’t have much: He had an animal skin bag in which he carried his food —“ bread, dried fruit, some olives and cheese. He had his sling which he used as a weapon. He had a staff, a sort of short wooden club often studded with nails, which hung on his belt. And he had his rod —“ the shepherd’s crook.

The first visitors to the Christ child were these men, whom we honor today.  The heavenly host came to them in all its majesty.  These rough cut men did not disbelieve. They did what they were trained to do.  They went to see.  On seeing they believed.

We honor them not just because they trusted, saw, and believed, but because they gave glory to God for all of it.  For what God had done.

Do we glorify God for what we have heard and seen? 

Is your first thought as you leave the church, thank you God for bringing Your light into my life?  Is your first thought one of praise for God forgiving your sins, giving you His Word, and for His Son’s coming into your body, heart, and soul?  Is your first thought, thank you God for allowing me to be here today?

God I praise You.  Repeat it with me.  God I praise You.  Repeat this constantly.  Repeat it every morning and each night.  Repeat it at meals, at work, and at rest.

My friends,

Creation is marvelous.  Like the shepherds we are very much in touch with creation; the things around us.  Like the shepherds we are tasked with hard work.  And, like the shepherds, more than the created has been revealed to us. 

We know God.  We know Him because of His Son, Jesus Christ.  We know Jesus Christ because of the Church. We know God by God’s mercy only, because God wants us.  We can do nothing to make God love us or save us. 

Today’s second reading bears repeating:

When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Like the shepherds we must be thankful for being allowed to hear and see.  We must come here more and more and do so with the sole intent of glorifying and praising God.  We do so by our worship of him, by our sorrow for our sins, and by constantly taking him into ourselves.

Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

My brothers and sisters in Christ

Does this statement strike you as odd?  Herod didn’t even know what he should have —“ where the Christ was to be born.  The king of Judea did not know.  He had to check his reference library.

Not only did he not know, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Not only did he not know, he was oblivious to the signs all around him.

Why?

Maybe he thought it wouldn’t happen.  Maybe he thought it would be different.  Certainly all of Jerusalem (except perhaps Simeon and Anna) thought it would be different.

How like people today!

And like people today, they held onto their expectations while they nailed Him to a tree.  They held unto their expectations even though they saw the signs and heard the Word.  They held on in the face of the fire of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent teaching of the Apostles.  They are still holding on today.

But what about us.  We, the gentiles.  The outsiders.  Paul tells us exactly:

We are coheirs,
members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus
through the gospel.

My family in Christ,

Through the preaching of the Gospel, our baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit we are the adopted sons and daughters.

Adoption, it has been said, is an act of knowing love.  You cannot really rush into an adoption.  You have to plan, prepare, be interviewed, wait and wait, and the wait some more. 

We, the gentile community, waited a long time.  We had no foreknowledge, and very little preparation for our Savior.  We didn’t have an expectation of anything.  But we are adopted.  We are grafted onto the vine.  We are co-heirs, members, and co-partners.  And God did this by an act of knowing love.  Love for you and me.

We are not accidental family members, in-laws, or a distant cousin.  We are the sons and daughters of God.

No, the king did not know.  The people did not know.  The scholars only knew the technical details.  The gift of knowing was given to the magi by the Holy Spirit.  They were given the gift of a seeing heart.  Like O Henry’s —Gift of the Magi—, their hearts were motivated by love. 

The Magi had no foreknowledge, but they saw the signs.  They had no ancient gift of faith, but fell on their knees before Jesus, presenting their gifts.

You are here, you see the signs, the child, the manger, the mother and father, shepherds and magi.  You are here to be forgiven your sins, to hear the Word, and to feast on His body and blood.  You are here to present your gifts, not of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the gift of yourselves.  You are here each week and work very hard to bring others to Christ.

By your adoption you are made part of the one Body of Jesus Christ.  Because of your adoption you are motivated by the love of God.  Because of your adoption you wish to include everyone.  All because of His sacrifice offered for you and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Come, children of the King, kneel before Him! O come let us adore Him!

[Note: In the PNCC we observe the 8th day within the Octave of the Nativity as the Solemnity of the Circumcision of our Lord. The Solemnity falls on Sunday, January 1st, 2006. The PNCC does not celebrate the ‘Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God’ which is a Solemnity observed according to the Roman Catholic Liturgical calendar.

Unless superseded by a Solemnity of the Lord, the Sunday following the Nativity is the Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds. The Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds will be observed Sunday, January 8th, 2006]

New Year —“ parties, festivities, football games, parades, and we are here to focus and reflect on the circumcision of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

God entered into a covenant with mankind, he entered into a contract with us through the Jewish people and told them that from the seed of Abraham would come the Savior. It was a contract sealed in flesh and blood.

In the time of Abraham the making of a covenant, or contract, required that the parties sacrifice an animal, divide it in half, and walk between the divided parts. It was a sealing of the contract in flesh and blood. In Genesis 15 we read:

Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness. He then said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” “O Lord GOD,” he asked, “How am I to know that I shall possess it?” He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up.

When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces. It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River (the Euphrates).

Think about this passage. Who walked between the pieces of the cut up sacrifice? God alone as both a smoking brazier and a flaming torch. Abram did not pass through. God, in reality, made a covenant with Himself to make Israel great; to give Abram and his descendants the land.

Later, in Genesis 17, which we read today, God promises to make Abraham the father of —a host of nations.— Not just one nation, but a host of nations.

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, told him that He would make him —exceedingly fertile— and that He would make —nations of him— and that —kings shall stem from him—.

God tells Abraham that His covenant will be an —everlasting pact— and the He will be his God and the God of his descendants after him—. That is, the God of a host of nations.

God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.

Today, Jesus Christ is circumcised. God is once again making a contract with Himself, in flesh and blood. Jesus, the new covenant and the fulfillment of the old, is circumcised. Jesus, God Himself, as the sacrifice, sheds His blood.

Because Jesus is truly God and truly man he sanctifies the flesh. Let me ask you, do we believe the flesh is evil? To this the Church must say no. We do proclaim, along with Paul that because of God’s action, because of the atoning death of His Son, Jesus Christ, even though unmerited by us, we have been granted righteousness by our faith.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Yes, we all fall short and with Paul we know that —in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.—

Jesus, God himself, took on our flesh to show us that perfection in our flesh is not only possible, but is our destiny. That even though we fall short we are welcome into the kingdom.

We know we fall short in our flesh and that we are imperfect. But Jesus meets people where they are to show them the way out of sin.

You are called to make a decision. You are called here to make a decision and to move along the road, the narrow path to perfection.

I can guarantee you that you will not reach it before you die. I can however guarantee and what our Church teaches is that once you make that choice for God you are changed forever by that very choice, there is no going back. As Paul told us already, —righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.—

It is a serious decision, to circumcise yourself. To circumcise yourself not in the sense of the flesh, but in the sense of the spirit. We teach and proclaim that your choice for God will open up the treasures of eternity for you and that God Himself will give you His love, in the form of grace, through the sacraments, so that you are strengthened for that journey.

God is all perfection, all truth, and all justice. He is faithful to His covenant, the contract He made with Himself to save us. Now is the time to stand, to look at yourself and to choose. Every day in the grace of God is a new year, a new and perfect eternity in the presence and love of God. Choose today to partake of the free gift won for us by God Himself.

Take yourself back, back across the years, the centuries, the millennia. Go far back in time, back to the time of creation. Back, to the beginning.

There aren’t too many people around right now, but you notice a subtle difference amongst those that are. Certain people focus on the here and now, on getting the job done, on hunting, gathering, and fishing. Others do the same, yet, they seem to be the ones who always cry out for more.

No, not more food, but more. They know there is something more.

Now walk forward with me. There’s Abram. He received a message; he packed up and left, with his old barren wife. He’s crossing the desert. I hear later that he’s now called Abraham. He heard from that mysterious something more. Whatever that more is has made a blood covenant with Abraham. They have a contract, to become a great nation.

Still further along we find Moses, leading that people out of Egypt. The contact has matured, the nation is large, and they are going to claim their inheritance. They were slaves and cried out, we need more, save us, we are hungry for more! And remarkably, they now meet with that something more, first on a mountain, then in a tent, in the desert. They know its laws, and well, they know His name —“ Yahweh. I am.

The years fly by faster now. Judges, kings, prophets, each in their own way, faced with struggles, confronting sin and mistakes. David is told that an eternal king shall be his descendant.

More kings, some, many, self interested louts. Then the exile. The great and minor prophets, Hosea speaking God’s love poetry to the people: Come back to me with all your heart.

When Israel was a child, I loved her,
and called her out of Egypt as my own.
But the more I called to her,
the more she turned away from me.
Yet I was the one who taught them to walk.
I took my people up in my arms,
but they did not acknowledge that I took care of them.
I drew them to me with affection and love.
I picked them up and held them to my cheek.
I bent down to them and fed them.
How can I give you up, my people?
How can I abandon you?
Could I ever destroy you
or treat you harmfully?
My heart will not let me do it!
My love for you is too strong.

And so we arrive in the poor, overcrowded, dirty streets of Bethlehem. In a barn out back of the city. We are no more than objects, not even called human beings by the government in Rome. We are slaves once again. And we are hungry, thirsty, alone, and broken hearted.

Some years later we stand in the presence of a remarkable man from Nazareth. We find him on the other side of the lake and we ask him:

Teacher, why did you come here?

Jesus answered them and said:

I am going to tell you an important truth that you need to understand.

You are looking for me not because you saw a miracle, but because you ate loaves of bread and your hunger was satisfied.

Don’t work for the food that spoils but for the food that gives life for eternity, which only the Son of man can give you.

For I am the only one the Father has commissioned to give eternal life.

They asked:

What must we do in order to earn this food that gives life for eternity?

Jesus said to them:

The work you can do to please God is to believe on the one whom God has sent.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes on me will never thirst.

The Jews began to start grumbling about Jesus because he said he was the bread of life that came down from heaven. They said:

Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he say he came down from heaven?

Jesus answered them:

I am the living bread that comes down from heaven and once a man eats it he will never die, but live forever. The bread that I give is my flesh, given for the life of the world.

The Jews began to discuss what these mysterious words meant.

We know what these words meant. We know because we are here. We kneel here and acknowledge our knowing every week. We kneel here still hungry, but with the blessed assurance that he came to feed us and to save us.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, we are hungry and we are here now. You came this day to reconcile us because the Father’s love is so strong. You came to feed us with your body and blood, to save us. May our hunger for you, for your word, for your body and blood be our only desire. Welcome Lord Jesus, welcome into my life.

Amen.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever!

My family in Christ,

Glory to God for His wisdom. Glory to God for His mercy.

God gives David a message: I have my own plans and who are you to take charge? Look at what I have done for you and how, through you, my plan of salvation will be fulfilled. I will raise up and heir to you who will be king forever.

God tells us through Isaiah 55:8-9: “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts; but just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

There is no contradiction or lack of knowing in God, but there is finite understanding in us. God is perfection, our knowledge is transitory and limited.

Today we held our semi-annual penance service. At every Holy Mass our Church imparts penance and absolution after you pause to reflect on your sinfulness and privately confess to God. Do you do a good job every week? Do you focus on those recurrent sins in your life? Do you formally tell God, —I am sorry, I did wrong, I hurt You, please forgive me?— Are you serious in acknowledging God as Father and in understanding that you are made to love Him above all?

Today was the way we try to get ourselves back on track, to remember those ways we offend God and hurt our brothers and sisters. Did you know that those reflections were in our pew missals? Good practice —“ get here early and read those reflections.

My sisters and brothers,

This was indeed a mysterious week. We are sad at the death of our Bishop, Casimir Grotnik. At the same time, we recognize our joy that the Lord has rescued Him and is now holding him in His arms. Bishop Grotnik will hear the words: ‘Come to me good and faithful servant.’

Why did he have to suffer so much? Why in the face of suffering, was he so filled with love and generosity?

I tell you, from personal experience, it is so difficult not to question God. It is also difficult to see our suffering as so much less than the suffering Jesus Christ endured for our salvation.

In the book of Job, Job remains faithful to God. He does not turn on Him in the face of horrendous suffering. But he does question why. When God comes to him and his friends God is very clear:

Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who is this that obscures divine plans with words of ignorance? Gird up your loins now, like a man; I will question you, and you tell me the answers! Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its size; do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it? Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid the cornerstone?

God goes on to question him through two chapters. In summary God is saying: —What do you know?—

Our answer must be: —Nothing! You are God!—

Like Mary, we must respond to God with the willingness to take on all God asks of us. To accept suffering with joy, to be humble, to thank Him for the blessings we have received, and to know God is our Lord and master.

And … Mary said, —Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.—

Let us pray that along with Mary we may answer, as we wake each morning, “May it be done to me according to your word.—

Amen.

The scripture passages and Gospel for today: Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Clear and unambiguous, great and heroic.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

This day is the third Sunday in Advent. We draw ever closer to His coming. The anticipation grows and we want to cry out, —My soul rejoices in my God.—

The beauty of the first reading is its simultaneous anticipation and in our knowing its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

When we read or listen to these passages we know how they apply. There is however an important insight – these prophecies apply to us.

God has indeed anointed us. By our baptism and confirmation He sends us bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD, and a day of vindication by our God.

The day of vindication has come and is coming. We will commemorate that magnificent day in two short weeks. Today, and on that day, we must renew our pledge to live lives worthy of God’s magnificent gift – the gift of eternal life with Him.

Isaiah tells us to rejoice heartily in the LORD, in our God who is the joy of our soul; for he has clothed us with a robe of salvation, and wrapped us in a mantle of justice.

The Lord GOD made justice and praise spring up before all the nations. He sent us His only Son, Jesus. Jesus purchased our salvation and left us with a mandate.

We go forward with that mandate and we, with Paul, rejoice always. We pray without ceasing. In all circumstances we give thanks, for this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. We do not quench the Spirit nor despise prophetic utterances. We test everything; retaining what is good. We refrain from every kind of evil.

Paul tells us that the one who calls us is faithful.

John knew this. He had no fear of the lawyers, scholars, and bureaucrats. He did not wilt in the face of the powerful, for his power, like yours and mine, comes from the One. It comes from God who is all in all our light and salvation, our Father and Lord.

Like John, we must go forth from this place. We must go forth for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through us. On our own we are not the light, but we must, by our presence here and by our lives out there, testify to the light. Testify to the truth of Jesus and to His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

This must be our testimony in the face of our family, friends, and co-workers; the public, those who hate God and who especially hate Christianity. When they ask you: —Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?— You must say: —I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.’ There is one who is returning, one you do not recognize,— who will as John proclaims, take up His winnowing fan to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn.

John was clothed in camel’s hair,
with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey.
And this is what he proclaimed:
—One mightier than I is coming after me…—

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

John surrendered himself, John who could have had a good life as the son of a temple priest; he surrendered himself to God’s will.

What a goofball, —One mightier than I is coming after me?— John, do you understand that you are wearing camel’s hair, a leather belt, and that you’re eating locusts and wild honey? John, anyone could be mightier than you. Who is coming next, a street beggar? John, the only thing you have going for you is a lack of fear, and that, in itself, is dangerous.

Yet they came.

People of the whole Judean countryside
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.

Just like you do each week, they came. They came to hear the message of God, the promise of salvation. Repent, the time is drawing near.

Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.

John understood his mandate, his duty, and his mission. That is what we must do, because the time is drawing near.

The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard —delay,—
but He is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.

Peter’s message is vital. He knew patience better than anybody. He knew how many chances Jesus gave him. He knew the deep intimate and unexpected love Jesus brought. He also knew the powerful demand of accountability and repentance that Jesus mandated.

Jesus demands much from us.

We need to live in truth. We need to hold to our beliefs and faith even if everyone, family, friends, co-workers, and parish members think we are goofballs. We need to wear the modern equivalent of camel’s hair and a leather belt. We need to be who we purport to be.

As Catholic Christians in the Polish National Catholic Church we hold a unique position in the history of the Church. Our beliefs are orthodox in many ways. We are very traditional in liturgy and church polity. We abide in the underlying message of hope and trust in God. It is orthodoxy with joy. It is also the proclamation of a message of personal accountability, responsibility, and repentance.

In the PNCC we believe that Hell is a state of suffering and a place where we may go to atone for our sinfulness. It is not eternal for everyone. We believe what Peter taught:

He is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.

We teach that God’s patience is eternal and everlasting. He always offers His love and provides us with opportunity to change. This is as true in this life as it is in eternal life.

The point is, and the problem is, that we must accept it. We must make a conscious choice and accept it. We must change and be regenerated in the Spirit. We must be responsible and accountable.

Most importantly, you are called to action now. Do not delay. Do not put off to tomorrow. Those who will spend eternity in Hell are those that want it. Those who are obstinate and unrepentant. Those who see their way as more important than God’s way. Those who create a life for themselves that says, I don’t need God, I can wait, I’ll pay tomorrow. The very people who rejected and eventually beheaded John.

What happens to the obstinate and unrepentant is that they find themselves fully believing in their own way —“ a way that refuses to subjugate itself to God’s way. A way they have trained themselves in every day of their lives.

The PNCC does not have a Satan, exorcists, or even a mention of the devil in its catechism. What we do know is that evil is real and that it is your choice —“ and your responsibility.

Persist in evil; persist in casting your responsibility off on Mr. Satan. Persist in believing that you will go to heaven and only the really evil will go to Hell. Persist in having it your way. Persist on living on borrowed time.

If you and I persist in being what we want, believing what we want, and in failing to meet God’s demands and expectations, then welcome to the Hell that we have created for ourselves.

If we change, if we are regenerated, if we keep working on it (because we are not perfect), then our dedication to God will move us along on the road to heaven.

You are here, so remain. You are here, like the people of Jerusalem —“ here to hear the message. You are here to receive sanctifying grace through penance, the Word, and the Eucharist. You are here to build strength for the road. You are here to change —“ for heaven’s sake.

Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from Your ways,
and harden our hearts so that we fear You not?

In other words, Lord, why do you allow us to be the people we are? Why do you let us go on and on? Why, why, why?

We are always asking God why. Why am I the way I am? Why do I suffer? Why do others hurt me? Why do I hurt others? Why Do I keep forgetting about God?

We really do want an answer. More than an answer, we want a sign. We want Jesus to come back and straighten everything out.

Over the past few weeks the Gospels have dealt with being prepared. They dealt with the end of time. We want that. Please separate the sheep from the goats, answer my questions, give me a firm foothold and a grasp on what is really going on.

Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking before you,

And this is echoed in the words of our Psalm response: —let us see your face and we shall be saved.—

We are literally dying to get to the Lord.

The inescapable fact is that as we age, as we approach our end, our hope increases. We will see His face and be saved. This is because our time of waiting, our time of expectations is drawing shorter and shorter.

Saint Paul gives us this assurance and more:

I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in Him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, we have been enriched, given every gift, and all the knowledge we need. The gift we have is our Christian/Catholic faith. The sustaining gift we receive is the Eucharist, Jesus’ very body and blood, and His Word, the Gospel, both filling us with sanctifying grace. These gifts prepare us for His revelation. We have the answer we need to follow Jesus’ command:

Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: (Watch!)

Your job is to question less and believe more. We have all we need to become regenerated. God’s offering is on the table. Come forward, accept it, let it fill your heart and renew you. Become the new man, the new woman, alive in faith, alive in the hope and expectation of Christ.

Eat His body, drink His blood. Walk in His ways. Know that you have all you need to do this. Use your free will and take it on.

The answers are there and they all begin with Jesus.

Why am I the way I am? Jesus asks you to use your unique gifts and personality to build His kingdom. You are essential to His kingdom.

Why do I suffer? Jesus was not above suffering. Do not trade your cross for His or another’s. Bear it for love of Jesus. Offer up your cross and make of it sacrificial suffering for His kingdom.

Why do others hurt me? Why do I hurt others? Jesus told us we are sinful and are in need of repentance. You must cast aside your sin and accept His forgiveness.

Why Do I keep forgetting about God? Jesus’ eternal love is less attractive than worldly cares, or so you think.

Now is the time, this is the moment to re-orient yourself. Do not let this second pass without your personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Do not let this time of expectation be spent in indecisive waiting, but in waiting with the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ is our life, our salvation, and our end.

Amen.

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

My fellow subjects of Christ the King,

The veil will be lifted and we shall see God as He is.

This passage in the Gospel has always held a special place in my heart. It lets me look at the last days as a sort of observer. I’m watching the sheep and the goats from on-high. I’m watching Jesus in His glorious second coming. Jesus robed in gold, surrounded by angels, seated on a throne. Trumpets blast, paradise to the right, damnation and fire to the left. A huge sea of humanity before Him.

I wonder if anyone has ever captured this event in a movie? The Gospel lets us watch this movie in our minds.

But, the veil will be lifted,

The veil to be lifted is our veil of voyeurism. We will not be watching this event, but will be participants in it. We will not have the luxury of checking out all the cool sights and sounds; we will be shaking in our shoes.

Remember those small wrongs we have all done? We put them quickly out of our minds. Remember those small and sometimes big lies? We thought the passing of time would wipe them clean. Remember every sin you have committed? Remember those times you put yourself and your money ahead of the stranger, the naked, the sick or the imprisoned? Remember that time you —just couldn’t make it— to see mom or dad, your brother or sister, Aunt Susan or Uncle Tony? Remember that time you judged the person next to you? You’ll be in line thinking about those things pretty fast.

The veil will be lifted,

As we look upon Jesus Christ our King seated on the throne of glory we will also be looking at the rest of humanity around us. We will not be seeing Bob, Nancy, Jim, Mary, Tom, Hassam, Fatima, Manuel, Hilda, Miecislaw, Jadwiga, Juan, Hiroshi, or Kameko. We will be looking at Jesus Christ crucified in them. They will see Jesus Christ crucified in us. We will see the pain and loneliness we have inflicted upon others.

We will see very clearly that Jesus is within each of us. When we hurt another, when we criticize another, when we imply motives to another person, we do it to Christ. We drive the nails straight into Jesus’ hands right through the heart of the person next to us.

The veil will be lifted,

It is something that you and I will not be able to bear. Remember how Peter cried after he disowned Jesus? The old story is that the lines in Peter’s face were from the rivers of tears he cried for days after hurting Jesus.

Very few of us approach Christian perfection and frankly we are all headed to the left. It is pretty cut and dried.

But the veil will be lifted.

The Bible says that we all sin, we all fall short of God’s glory and righteousness. We do not and cannot earn God’s acceptance, nor do we need to. Jesus has purchased that for us by His death on that cross.

On that last day our hope is in Jesus Christ the true shepherd. The Bible tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds “He had compassion on them for they were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus let us press thorns into his head, beat him, whip him, and nail him to a cross. He carried that cross and died on it for our sin. Enduring enormous suffering, Jesus paid for sin on our behalf.

He died, but rose again, showing the world that He has complete power over death. When Jesus said he came to give us eternal life, he showed that he owned eternal life and he offers it to us as a gift. In His kingship we receive that gift.

This is God’s remarkable love for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him…might have eternal life.”

This is what our Church, the PNCC teaches. The road to the left is not the final curtain. We teach that repentance, sorrow for our sins and the desire for God opens the door to God’s everlasting love, a door that is never closed. Our Church preaches the hope of the Gospel. Not a false hope of happy times and the easy way, but a hope that comes from right belief. Give yourself to the shepherd and he will take you into His sheepfold. Desire Him above all else, repent and make amends.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in him…might have eternal life.”

Amen.