Repentance & Mercy

Luke 12:10, Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:29 were very troubling passages for me early in my Christian journey. I used to wonder, have I ever blasphemed the Holy Spirit? The explanation in 1864 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is one I recite daily as a reminder of God’s mercy and as a prayer. It says …

“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss. (1864 CCC)

God’s mercy is so much greater than our sins, and as the teaching tells us, there are no limits to His mercy. Glory and praise to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Mike Burke; Saturday, October 15, 2016

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Concealed – Revealed

Tonight as I read scripture and reflect, in my life I have done many things I am not proud of. Jesus says … “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” How embarrassing and humiliating it will be for me to make known to the world the darkness in my life. Somehow, I think I should be sad thinking about this but I am not. In fact, right or wrong, I am going to rejoice in the mercy of God and trust that He will lead me out of darkness through His mercy.

I have so much to be thankful for and give praise and glory to God. Tomorrow, I am blessed with picking up two of my beautiful grandchildren after work, to spend the weekend with me. I am scheduled to play Mass music on Saturday evening and oh yes, the Dodgers won tonight and made it to the NLCS to play against the Cubs. (I thought I would throw that in there since I grew up a Dodger fan and worked for them for 11 years.)

With all the negatives going on in this world, there is hope in the light of Jesus who tells us just how much we are loved … “Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Thanks be to God! 

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Mike Burke; Friday, October 14, 2016

Why Jesus?

Saint Paul gives an answer in Ephesians 1:3-10.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In Christ we have redemption by his Blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. 

My answer: I am nothing without Jesus. Nothing. 

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Mike Burke; Thursday, October 13, 2016

The Right To Choose

Tonight, scripture from Galatians 5:18-25 tells me that I have the right to choose. I do not mean to choose to murder millions of innocent babies in their mother’s womb, but to choose the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh.

I am told … “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.” Personally, I battle many of them but do not want to choose any of them.

What I do want to choose is the fruit of the Spirit … “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Truthfully, you will find me lacking at times when I am in battle with the flesh and Spirit.

By the works of the flesh, we are warned, that we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. It seems clear to me that my choice, as an adopted son of God, is to accept my inheritance of Eternal Life with God. The opposite seems clearly foolish to me which brings to me a question of contemplation; why do I still give in to the temptation of the works of the flesh?

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Mike Burke; Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Too Much Pharisee In Me

There is still too much Pharisee in me. My morning was a good reminder that there is still much work to be done in me within. From the outside when you see me, I think most times I will give you the impression that all is well and most times it is. I am not trying to fool you to thinking I have it all together. If I converse with someone, I enjoy the honesty of life issues in listening and in sharing. But today, was different.

I was out of the house at 6:15am this morning and my drive was 2 hours and 22 minutes to get to work. Yesterday, I had to leave work right at closing to travel to a choir rehearsal. I got home at 11:30pm and in bed by 12:30am. I am saying this to give myself some kind of excuse for my behavior this morning but there is really no excuse.

To set a little background on me, I was a coach, aggressive, yeller, cusser, doing anything to win, etc. Today, I do everything I can, by the grace of God, to be the total opposite of that type of behavior. I cannot remember the last time I cussed in public. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I raised my voice.

The Gospel today from Luke 11:37-41 has a Pharisee judging Jesus because He did not do the ceremonial washing before reclining at table to eat. Jesus’ words hit home for me today … “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

Today, I judged truck drives, motorcyclists, drivers changing lanes and pretty much anyone that did not meet my expectations. Knowing there were accidents, I had little pity for victims of the accident and judgmentally blaming them for causing accidents and causing me the stress of possibly being late. And, I was again the 4 letter word master within the confines of my car.

My point is that I need to seek, accept and apply God’s grace to clean myself within. Like the Pharisee, my outside seems to be working ok but my inside still has its plunder and evil. Consequently, I arrived at work on time, setup the office since I had to leave early yesterday and still with time to spare, contemplated all the unnecessary foolish stress and frustration I caused myself this morning. Lord have mercy.

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Mike Burke; Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Raising Up The Lowly

I was reading today’s Gospel from Luke 11:29-32, which talks about condemnation of people who will not repent. Jesus tells us … “This generation is an evil generation.” I can look at the world today and see it very clearly. Sometimes, I can look in the mirror and see it clearly as well.  But I was actually uplifted by the message of repentance as well as the Responsorial Psalm 113 which tells me … “He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.”

You see, as I laid down my head to rest last night, I felt like a had fallen into a dunghill. Yesterday, I had a complete day to myself to do whatever I want. My days have been filled with work and many other opportunities to serve. When I have time to myself like I did yesterday, I am not always happy with the choices I make. I take on a selfish attitude where I, and my desires, become more important to me. I will leave it at that and try to practice and accept what I always seem to write … “Our God is a merciful God.” Being humbled and repenting is a good thing. Lord have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.

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Mike Burke; Monday, October 10, 2016

Thanking God

The scripture readings today bring to mind the importance of giving thanks to God. In the first reading from 2Kings 5:14-17, Naaman, who had leprosy, was told by the prophet Elisha to go and plunge in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was perplexed by this command thinking that there are better ways to be healed rather than plunging into a dirty old river. But when he finally did, he was completely cured of his leprosy. He went back to Elisha to present him with gifts but Elisha refused. Why? Because this healing was not caused by Elisha, but all thanksgiving, glory and praise goes to God.

Leprosy and thanksgiving continues in the Gospel reading from Luke 17:11-19. There were ten lepers who wanted to be cured. Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priest. They go and on the way, they all are completely cured of their leprosy. One of the former lepers, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks to Jesus. I am sure the other nine were also grateful but as our priest, Fr. Joseph, suggested in the homily, they did not know who to give thanks to.

The message for me today is that God is to be given thanks, glory and praise for every gift and blessing. We thank people daily in our lives for helping us in some way, which is good, but ultimately, the thanksgiving belongs to God. I thank many for the great blog posts I read, which is good, but ultimately, the glory goes to God through the power of the Holy Spirit. And when I am thanked for doing something good for someone, I hope I can be more like the prophet Elisha and give thanksgiving to whom it truly belongs. Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Mike Burke; Sunday, October 9, 2016

Hear & Observe The Word Of God

Here is today’s short Gospel from Luke 11:27-28 …While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

I leave no doubt as a blogger that I desire daily to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and everyone the Lord places in my life. I also love the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have read comments of some who like to twist this passage to say that Jesus “put down” His Mother with this statement. I will respond with “nonsense!” Jesus, of all people, would follow the commandment to honor your mother and father. Lastly, Mary responded to the Angel Gabriel, “let it be done to me according to your Word” and became the Mother of God. I think that is probably the greatest example of observing the Word of God.

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Mike Burke; Saturday, October 8, 2016

The Lord Will Remember His Covenant Forever

I will admit up front today that I am tired and do not feel much like writing. I am halfheartedly reading today’s scripture hoping that something comes to mind and the Holy Spirit takes over. It has! I had a challenging day at work. Whenever events are happening on campus, my job gets busier and the need for helping others is constant. So here is what popped up today in my tired little mind. It is the Responsorial Psalm 111 …

 

R. The Lord will remember his covenant forever.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R.The Lord will remember his covenant forever.
Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant forever.
He has given food to those who fear him;
he will forever be mindful of his covenant.
He has made known to his people the power of his works,
giving them the inheritance of the nations.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant forever. 

God is faithful. His covenant with me is everlasting. Even though I fail him way too often, He never abandons me. I thank God all day when feeling good and not so good. He provides for me everything I need and I do not want for anything. I am not sure of any time in my life that I felt closer to Jesus than now. Tired or not, I am blessed by the Lord of all creation! Good night and God bless you!

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Mike Burke; Friday, October 7, 2016

Persistence In Prayer

The Gospel today from Luke 11:5-13 is about persistence in prayer. We remember Jesus telling us … ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Yesterday, all of us choir directors received an email from our music coordinator asking if someone could cover the 9am Mass. I ignored the email figuring someone else would answer it but I prayed something like Lord, if you want me to play this Mass then you will make it happen and I trust in you.

I am at work today and after closing the doors of the office, I walked to church for Mass. When I came back to work from Mass, I was feeling very tired, had a runny nose and wondering if I am getting sick. I checked my email and there was one from the music coordinator asking me if I would cover the Mass because no one else stepped up. I wrestled with this and on my drive home, I decided to call my guitar player to see if he would do the Mass with me because if I was sick, he could sing and play and I could accompany him.

Being the great man that he is, he said yes. I went home with the intent of preparing the music and let our music coordinator know but as I went to compose the email, the music coordinator had sent me another email saying that it was covered. Now I personally think that I was being tested by God to trust Him by saying yes and committing to serve even though I was not feeling well. All the while, He had another plan.

What does this have to do with persistence in prayer? Knowing our music coordinator, she was praying for help in covering that Mass. I believe she was persistent and God answered her prayer with the right people He wanted to cover the Mass. And, at the same time, he sent a reminder to me that I must trust Him. He knows if I am the right person. I  must be open to His call without fear of sickness or any prideful/vain reasons to not want to serve. God loves us all so much. He is amazing!

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Mike Burke; Thursday, October 6, 2016